A Pet Squishy
by Fire Redhead
Summary: G1 ish universe. Thundercracker captures a young woman to be his pet
1. I Want a Human

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or any of their human character friends…I only wish to pay tribute to their greatness

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Transformers or any of their human character friends…I only wish to pay tribute to their greatness_

_**A/N: This doesn't really correlate with my "Tinman" story (Movie 2007) in most aspects. I've decided to go with more G1 elements (the Nemesis as the Con base, Megatron still in command, etc) except this isn't set in the 1980s.**_

_**I know this plot has been beaten to death and I was shamelessly inspired after reading Lnzy1's "Domestic Liberation" and Happyhedgehog's "Thundercracker's Pet", but I just had to write it. I've always felt of all the G1 Decepticons, Thundercracker would be the one to want a human pet. He might be slightly out of character here from my Tinman portrayal, but it's all in good fun. So…here we go. **_

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 1 "I Want a Human Pet"**

**By Leah Wood**

"**Ewww! No. No way!"** Skywarp pulled his head back, repulsed.

"**What? I just think they're interesting little creatures."** Thundercracker argued, indicating the cars zipping through the city far below.

Skywarp made a face, **"Maybe…but **_**why**_** would you want one?"**

The blue Seeker shrugged his vented shoulders, still watching the tiny, wheeled machines.

"**Come on, TC, why do you want a pet anyway?"** Skywarp asked, swooping close to his wingman.

Thundercracker snorted, **"When I was a Sparkling, I had a Tecteerian feline."**

"**You mean those fuzzy blue organics with the long fangs and poisonous tail tips?"** Skywarp raised a plated brow, **"How'd you get one of those? I thought the Cybertronian Government outlawed those pets on Cybertron."**

"**I found it on one of the nearby moons when my creators took me there. I caught it and smuggled it home. Then I hid it under my berth for a few stellar months before my creators found it and ordered me to get rid of it."** Thundercracker explained, a strangely sad look flickering his optics. **"So I took it back to the planet where I found it. I never got another pet after that."**

"**So…NOW you want a human pet?" **Skywarp guessed.

Thundercracker nodded.

The black Seeker rolled over on his back, flying upside down, **"Do you even know HOW to keep a human alive, TC? I mean, they're so easy to terminate."**

"**Give me some credit!" **Thundercracker smacked his comrade's wing, "**I've been studying this human internet to find out all the stuff humans need to survive. They need food, water, a place to sleep, a cleansing pool, a place to get rid of their bio fluids and waste,"** Thundercracker rattled off the list.

"**ARG!" **Skywarp threw his hands up to his audio receptors with revulsion, "**And you WANT one of those? Sounds like a pain in the afterburners to me! Megatron would never let you have one anyway." **

Crossing his arms stubbornly, Thundercracker replied, **"I still want one."**

The black and violet Con stared at his wingman, **"You've glitched your logic circuits. Megatron will kick your aft clear up into your mainframe if he finds out."**

"**Then you'd better not tell him then."** Thundercracker narrowed his optics dangerously.

……**..**

_A few days later back in Thundercracker's quarters on the Nemesis…_

"**Well? What do you think?"** Thundercracker asked, displaying the small enclosure unit he'd been building for his anticipated pet.

Skywarp tipped his head. The enclosure was made out of empty Energon cubes with small holes and metal tubing in between the different sections to allow the human access to all the compartments. In one of the cubes there was a colorful parachute stretched out between the cube walls forming what the humans called a "hammock".

"**See? It will recharge here."** the blue jet Con explained. He pointed to the other cubes which contained an array of tiny objects Skywarp couldn't identify, **"That's where it will refuel and…"**

"**Yeah, yeah. It's great TC," **the black and violet Seeker nodded half-heartedly**, **stopping the explanation before it went on. "**So what kind of squishy are you going to put in there?" **Skywarp suddenly got an idea and pointed at the enclosure**, "Hey! You outta get two males and let 'em fight. That would be fun to watch."**

"**Oh…I dunno. I kinda want a female human." **Thundercracker pondered.

Skywarp sniggered clasping his hands sarcastically, **"Aww. TC wants a wittle human femme to keep him company."**

A black fist crashed into the Seeker's chin, throwing him back, **"Shut off scrap head!"**

Recovering quickly, Skywarp let the punch slide with a laugh, **"All right, all right. It's just a joke! When are you going to get the human?"**

Thundercracker thought a moment, **"Well, maybe I'll do some scanning until find the one I want."**

"**Geez, TC. Just **_**pick**_** one. The planet is crawling with 'em."** Skywarp rolled his optics. **"Besides if you use the satellite Soundwave will know and you KNOW who he'll tell."**

Consenting, Thundercracker stood up, **"Fine. Are you coming?"**

The black Seeker seemed to debate in his mind, **"Will I get to destroy anything?"**

Thundercracker shrugged.

"**Eh…"** Skywarp deliberated, **"All right. I could use a good flight anyway."**

The two Seekers left Thundercracker's quarters and traversed the long corridor of the Nemesis until they reached the launch bay.

"**HEY! Soundwave! Raise the launch bay."** Skywarp shouted in the expansive hangar.

Soundwave was almost always at the com panel, running the doors and systems of the Nemesis. It seemed the communications officer never went into recharge.

"_**Purpose for venture?"**_ the monotonic voice replied over the speaker system.

"**Give us a break Soundwave! Do we need a reason to leave?"** Skywarp retorted.

The silence that followed indicated that they apparently did.

"**Fine! We're going on some patrols…early."** Thundercracker offered.

"_**Unlikely."**_ Soundwave replied, a slight hint of disdain hidden in his voice.

Skywarp crossed his arms, **"Would you rather we stay here and find OTHER means to amuse ourselves other than flying?"**

Soundwave considered this a moment. A bored Seeker was a troublesome Seeker. In many ways Skywarp was as treacherous as his own two drones Frenzy and Rumble when boredom struck. There was one time where the Seeker adhered his compartment shut when he was in recharge. Logically it would be better to let them patrol than keep them locked in the ship where untold amounts of havoc could be wreaked.

"_**Proceed."**_

With that the whole launch bay shifted with transformation, rising up like a giant elevator. When the lights indicated the port was out of the water the hatches opened, revealing dimming evening sky. Smirking like a couple of Sparklings, the two Seekers raced down the platform, transformed, ignited their thrusters, roaring into the sky.

Once they gained some altitude, Skywarp called over to his blue wingman, **"So where are we going?" **

Thundercracker activated his sensors, **"I'd say out away from the human cities— someplace secluded where we won't be interrupted."**

Skywarp mentally shook his head, **"I still think you're glitched."**

……**.**

_Not too far away in the suburbs…_

Lana was a young woman in her second year of college. She had a firm, toned figure, ivory skin, flashy light red hair, and soft blue eyes—an attractive woman by almost any human standard. A poor college student, she had to room with a couple of other girls she barely knew just to keep her rent manageable whilst she earned her degree to become a chiropractor/masseuse. She didn't mind being alone though. Solitude was preferable after her classes and her shifts at work.

Lana sat in her overstuffed living room chair, thumbing through her anatomy textbook. She sighed with a mixture of irritation and anxiety. There was no way she was going to learn all these muscles by tomorrow! What was her professor thinking? Not to mention she still had to go to work tonight until 2:00 a.m. She clawed at her scalp a moment, stress creeping into the crevices of her mind.

"_Work __**and**__ a test the next morning…just peachy_. _Well, at least my roommates are out tonight. I never can study with them around."_ the redhead thought with some glimmer of positive lining.

Lana flipped another page of the book, checking her notes. Her classroom scribbles and the book's long italicized words seemed to jumble together as her brain threatened to quit for the night. She growled, deftly dropping the book on the carpet and meandering over to the small kitchen for a snack. Maybe some food would give her a recharge.

As she peeked in the fridge, a low dull rumble sounded from outside. It sounded like jet planes. She shrugged, scanning the fridge for anything that perked her interest. The windows began to rattle and the dull roar became more distinct. Lana shut the fridge, noting the mugs hanging above the sink were vibrating too.

"Good grief, those jets are loud." she stated.

But instead of the jet engines fading away as they would in a fly-over, they became louder still. Lana moved to the kitchen window, looking up at the reddish orange evening sky for the jets. They sounded SO close. She couldn't see anything, but the noise steadily increased until it sounded like the planes were mere feet above the house. One of the mugs shook from its peg, shattering against the sink. Lana instinctually rushed to prevent more from falling when suddenly the kitchen appliances jumped, sliding out of place when a tremor shook the house. Lana fell against the kitchen counter with a cry of shock.

"_Oh, my God. A jet crashed!" _ Lana guessed immediately.

….

"**Why here?"** Skywarp asked in a quieter voice.

"**Gotta start somewhere." **Thundercracker tapped the roof of the two story house, "**Besides, my scanners indicate there's just one female in here."**

Shrugging, the black and violet Seeker swung his hand, swatting the roof and most of the second story right off of the house. Wood shrapnel and small human objects flew everywhere in a grim snow.

The black and purple Seeker gave a sinister smirk, **"I love doing that."**

….

Lana fell to the floor instinctually and covered her head when she heard the ear-splitting crash from upstairs. It sounded like the whole building was collapsing.

"What was THAT?" the young woman asked in a fearful high pitched voice.

Scrambling to her feet again she carefully trotted to the front door, hoping the whole building wasn't going to fall in on her. Just as she stepped off of the kitchen linoleum, an explosion of plaster, dust, wood, and insulation rained down upon her. Lana screamed and fell on her bottom, choking on the noxious dusty mixture. Through squinted eyelids she caught a glimpse of something big and black moving in the rubble and dust.

She just knew it was the jet. It _had_ to be. The jet crashed and smashed through the roof of her house! She coughed, waving her hand to clear the air. Suddenly, the dry oppressive fog cleared briefly, revealing the true nature of the black object. It wasn't a jet. Poking down through the ceiling of her living room and resting on the floor was a gigantic metal hand! Lana blinked her irritated eyes, thinking her inhalation of the dust was making her hallucinate.

_Was there asbestos in this insulation?_

It wasn't until the fingers began blindly groping around on the carpet that she realized she wasn't imagining it. Whining and groaning mechanically the black digits crept around the room, knocking over anything they came into contact with.

Lana just sat on the kitchen floor, dumbstruck. Her mouth opened and closed like a landed fish, but no words issued forth. She wanted to scream, wanted to run, but her body wouldn't obey. After "investigating" the living room the metal fingers redirected toward the kitchen. Sweeping slowly and methodically across the floor the black digits crept closer to Lana. The strawberry blonde pushed herself backward across the linoleum until she was underneath the kitchen table, pressed to the furthest leg. Her breaths came in short frightened gasps as the fingers scraped the linoleum, bumping into the lower cabinets and then the range.

She couldn't hide under the kitchen table. She had to find a better place to conceal herself. But the hand barred her only escape, effectively cornering her. The forefinger brushed the table leg, shoving the entire piece of furniture into the wall. Lana scrambled to stay under it, hoping the hand would miss her if she moved to places it had already inspected. It was like playing a terrifying, twisted form of Battleship.

Then, the hand backed off and slowly slid back up through the hole, almost appearing to give up.

……

"**Come on TC! Catching humans isn't THAT difficult."** Skywarp complained as Thundercracker probed the human edifice.

The blue Seeker grunted with frustration, pulling his hand out, **"I KNOW it's in here somewhere."**

"**Here. Let me show you how it's done." **Skywarp insisted, shoving his wingman aside.

……

Lana heard the strangest sounds coming from above the house. It sounded like a deep rumbling mixed with sounds one would hear on a video game or space age computer. Even that couldn't begin to describe the sound. Lana had never heard anything like it in her life.

She was suddenly snapped out of her curiosity when the hand returned. But this was a different hand as it was colored a deep shade of purple. The new hand flipped over so its palm was flat against the ceiling. In one brief movement the hand powerfully ripped up the ceiling, sending more of the upstairs crashing down into the living room. Lana remained under the table, her only source of protection from the falling debris.

This hand's movements were quicker and more violent than the other, as if the owner of it was done messing around. Mercilessly the fingers punched holes in the walls and crushed the furniture like potato chips under the sofa cushions. The young woman had to bite her lip and close her eyes to keep from screaming as the giant, violet hand destroyed her house wall by wall.

Her mind kept up its mantra of questions, _"What was it? What was it looking for? What did it want? Why was it here?"_

In an instant the fingers finished with the living room and swooped over to the kitchen table, gripping the edges. The hand closed, reducing the table to splinters and exposing Lana. The terrified girl scrambled to her feet, slid underneath the purple hand, and ran down the hall as fast as she could. Like a striking snake the colossal hand swiped at her, smashing the framework of the hallway. As she dove into the laundry room at the end of the hallway the strange sounds boomed in her ears.

…….

"**SLAG! I almost had it!"** Skywarp cursed, ramming his hand through the narrow hallway and utterly destroying it.

Thundercracker gripped the tall vent that made up his comrade's shoulder and pulled him back, **"Easy, Warp! You're going to kill it."**

"**So?"**

Thundercracker cuffed Skywarp's head,** "I want a pet, not a corpse."**

"**Fine! Catch your own fraggin' human."** the purple and black Con huffed.

Bending over, Thundercracker assessed the wrecked layout of the house and determined the human female was hiding in the farthest section that hadn't been destroyed. He slowly moved around to the other side of the building and gripped the entire back wall with both hands. With one huge pull he ripped the wall away, exposing the house interior. The Decepticon tossed the wall away and crouched down on his knees, peeking inside. Just then a small, white, metal box fell out of the exposed building. He promptly caught it with one hand, procuring an unnatural high-pitched scream. Thundercracker held up the strange metal box and gave it a gentle shake.

"OW!" a small voice echoed inside it.

The blue Con smirked holding up the metal box. **"Got it."**

Skywarp made a confused face, **"You idiot! That's not a human, that's a… umm…metal box thingy."**

Thundercracker smiled and gave the box another gentle shake.

Skywarp then laughed with understanding,** "Ha! It came prepackaged!"**

Gripping the metal box firmly, Thundercracker activated his thrusters and shot off into the sky, his mission a success.


	2. Your Pet!

A Pet Squishy

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 2: "**_**Your**_** Pet?!"**

_Back on the Nemesis…_

Lana was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown or some kind of cardiac arrest she was so scared. At first, the idea hiding in the dryer sounded like a sure-fire plan to fool the giant monsters that were after her. But instead it just made her easier to catch. After being shaken and banged up she heard nothing but the roar of jet engines and wind whistling through the vents of the dryer. In the metal dark she cried, hoping for some kind of miracle to save her from this nightmarish ordeal.

Abruptly the roaring engines died away and the whole dryer jerked, banging her against the unforgiving metal tumbler again. The small amount of clothes inside provided little cushioning. Hissing with pain, Lana tried to brace herself against the walls to prevent further bruising. Her cramped metal prison swayed rhythmically for several more minutes giving her the strange impression that she was being carried somewhere.

Lana stared in the direction of the dryer door, licking her lips. _Should she open it and see what had her? Did she really want to know?_ Reaching out she pressed her hand to the door, willing herself to open it. Then the movement stopped and the strange rumbling sounds returned.

…….

"**Well? Are you going to see what you caught?"** Skywarp asked as Thundercracker entered his quarters.

The blue Seeker nodded holding up the white metal container.

Skywarp leaned against the doorframe, **"I still don't get why you didn't take a look at it BEFORE we left. What if it sucks?"**

"**For one, we needed to leave to avoid anymore unneeded attention. And if I don't like it then I'll go out tomorrow and find another one."** Thundercracker responded, slowly turning the dryer between his fingers to see where the access point was located.

…….

Lana felt all air zip out of her lungs when the dryer door swung open, revealing a very large glowing red light encased in a metal frame. An unusual spoked cog rotated on the rim of the light, shrinking the glow to a smaller size and then widening it again. A small strip of metal flicked over the light briefly. Lana pressed her back to the wall, her breath seizing in her chest. If she didn't know any better that red light looked and behaved very much like an eye—the pupil dilating and then an eyelid blinking.

_What in the name of…?_

Suddenly the dryer flipped over, placing the opening downward. Lana whimpered, bracing her limbs against the walls to prevent falling out. Below she could see that same black, metal hand ready to seize her should she slip out.

"Oh no you don't. I'm not coming out that easy." the young woman whispered with more valor than she felt.

The dryer suddenly began shaking up and down like a salt shaker. The clothes fell out, cascading lightly into the awaiting palm. Try as she might to hang on, the force of the motion was just too much for the girl to handle. Skin squeaking as she slid from the dryer interior, Lana tumbled out landing in the pile of clothes accumulated in the giant hand. She propped herself up with her hands and almost threw up her own heart when she saw what held her.

…….

Thundercracker lifted the tiny human female closer to his optics, taking a quick note of her form.

"**Hmm. Well, it looks healthy to me and I like this fuzz color."** he stated lightly stroking her head.

The human female recoiled from his touch and quickly stole a glance over the edge of his palm. Realizing the height she was held made her immediately back-pedal into his fingers. She then curled her knees into her chest and dropped her head down. The big Seeker could feel the tremors emanating from her small frame.

"**I think it's scared."** he mentioned.

Skywarp gave an impish smirk and slowly approached to take a look at the human.

He tipped his dark head and spoke in the human's language to get its attention, **"Hey. Hey human."**

Nervously the tiny creature looked up at him.

Skywarp put his hand in a clawed gesture and thrust it at the human, **"Grrr!"**

The female's eyes shot open and then rolled back as she fell over in Thundercracker's hand. A shocked look crossed the blue Seeker's face while Skywarp was beside himself with devious mirth.

"**HA! HA! HA! Did you see that?"** he tipped his hand in a falling motion, **"CLUNK! This squishy is fun!"**

"**WARP! You killed it!"** he accused.

"**No I didn't!" **Skywarp continued to laugh but slowly calmed himself, tipping his head at the prone form, "**Did I?"**

Placing his finger gently on the human's torso Thundercracker scanned its vitals. The vitals were still functioning but at a much slower rate than was normal, according to his research.

"**Well…it's alive."** he pinned his wingman with threatening stare, **"But I think you put it into stasis!"**

The black and violet Con flippantly flicked his hand, **"Aw, it'll come out of it. Well I'm going to fuel up, you coming?"**

Thundercracker shook his head with frustration, **"No. I'll get some later. I'm going to make sure you didn't permanently send it into stasis."**

"**Whatever. Hey, let me know when it comes around. I want to play with it some more."** Skywarp snickered, leaving.

The blue Con ground his jaw gears. If he let Warp mess with his new pet he'd probably kill it. His wingman had no sense of tact or restraint. He'd definitely have to limit Warp's "playing" if he wanted to keep his pet alive for longer than a megacycle. Moving over to the enclosure he'd built, Thundercracker lifted the top panel of the resting chamber, and placed his new pet in the parachute/hammock He hoped it wasn't broken.

…….

Lana eventually came to and found herself surrounded by the brightest colors of blue, red, white, and yellow. She blinked with confusion as she touched the material. It felt like a pair of wind pants but with much more strength.

_What was this? Where was she?_

Rolling over Lana suddenly fell right out of the colorful mass and onto a hard surface below.

"OW!" she grunted, massaging her already throbbing backside.

She stared up at the mass of cloth noticing its bar-like shape and vast amounts of broken cords. It looked like a paraglider fashioned into one big hammock. Confused, Lana glanced around her noticing she was in a transparent room. It was about the size of a large bedroom with a very tall ceiling. She slowly walked over to the wall which had an odd shimmering to it unlike glass or Plexiglas. She touched it and discovered it was smooth and very hard.

Suddenly, from the other side of the transparency a colossal form of blue and black appeared accompanied by those same red lights.

_Oh. Now she remembered—giant robots—terrifying, freaking huge, robots._

Lana gasped and staggered back as the towering mech's shadow completely engulfed the room and its every step sent deep vibrations into her body from the floor. Through the wall she could see a tinted glass chamber centered in the middle of the robot's chest. It kind of looked like a jet cockpit. Her blue eyes darted to the edges of the gigantic form confirming it—the thing had plane wings spanning its back.

_That's_ why she heard jets. And those weird sounds she'd heard before were the robots speaking to each other. There had been two of them before._ Yeah_. There was a black and purple one who spoke to her and then acted like it was going to attack her. She'd fainted.Now there was only the big blue one who'd held her.

_But what did they want? Why was she here?_

The blue and black colossus lowered itself, placing its red glowing eyes even with the transparent box. Piercing and terrible, its eyes sent sheer terror racing through the young woman. She scrambled into the paraglider hammock, hiding amongst its billowing folds.

"Nononono." she whispered, curling into a fetal position.

A strange grinding rumble came from behind the glass. Lana thought it sounded like a cough or maybe a short mechanical laugh.

"**So, you like the recharge hammock I made for you."** the robot's voice was very deep and grating, clearly masculine and his English was oddly laced with a light New York accent. He seemed, from his tone, somewhat pleased.

Through a white patch in the paraglider material she could faintly make out the blue robot's red eyes.

A loud banging shook the transparent room when he tapped the wall with his finger, like a child tapping the glass of a fish tank.

"**Come out little human. I want to see you."** he stated.

"_Yeah, right."_ Lana thought to herself, burrowing deeper into the excess folds of the paraglider hammock.

After a few moments, the big mech reached for the roof of the transparent room and lifted it off like a lid. Setting it aside he reached down into the enclosure for Lana. The young woman gave a cry of fear, scrambling to escape from both him and the hammock. She awkwardly flipped over onto the floor and instantly noticed an exit off to her right. Before the robot could successfully grab her, she dashed into the narrow tunnel. Where it led she didn't know, but quite suddenly it ended revealing a whole new transparent room. This one contained a large clear box filled with water that looked like an above-ground swimming pool.

A shadow fell over her and before Lana could move two big black fingers clamped onto her waist and hoisted her up. Her stomach lurched as her head spun from the rapid ascension. She let loose a shrill scream of fright, kicking her legs and fighting for all she was worth. Nothing she did helped. In an instant she was face to face with the gigantic metal creature. His red eyes focused on her, making her go stiff with dread. The robot stared at her and then used the fingers of his other hand to lift up her left arm. She forcefully jerked her arm away from him, but he was persistent as he lifted her other arm. He seemed to be studying each of her limbs one by one. Slowly he turned her around and then back again.

The big bot nodded after his brief inspection, **"Yeah. You're in prime condition—good muscle tone, no infirmities or maladies. You'll make a great pet."**

Lana's mind cinched up as tight as her muscles.

_Pet?_

He then sat back in a huge metal seat that seemed specifically designed to accommodate his impressive wingspan and continued to observe her. Lana fought, trying to wriggle out of his firm, yet gentle grasp. The giant stroked her shoulder and arm with his finger, which made her flinch away.

"**Hey, hey. It's all right little human. I'm not going to kill you. You're my pet now."** his great voice tried to soothe.

_PET?!_

His hand swung out a bit and he placed the young woman on a flat metal surface that resembled a work table or desk. Lana staggered, vertigo consuming her senses. Once she stabilized she made a run for it, but she was instantly barred by the robot's hand and wrist. Gasping she whirled around and ran the other way. His other hand came down in front of her as well.

"**Where do you think **_**you're**_** going?"** he inquired, sounding amused.

It was a useless attempt. She was at this giant robot's mercy—a tiny mouse in the paws of a tiger. Shaking clear to the soles of her bare feet, Lana slowly turned to face him again. She thought her heart was going to bust out of her chest and she would faint again, but she fought to maintain control.

The metal creature tipped his helmeted head, a smirk forming on his humanoid face, **"They call me Thundercracker. But you, little one, will call me Master. Understand?"**

Lana's head bobbed dumbly, though deep down the idea of demeaning herself just churned her guts. Thundercracker—the name suited him given his voice alone.

Thundercracker made a sweeping gesture toward the expansive room, **"These are my quarters."** He leaned back, revealing the intricate transparent enclosure she'd been plucked out of, **"This is yours. I made it myself."**

Lana stared across the expanse at the enclosure. It had four separate compartments all connected by metal tunnels, like an oversized hamster cage. But it looked much bigger than the house she had been living in. She could make out the colorful parachute hammock in the first clear box followed by the "pool room". The next box didn't have much of anything in it and the last "room" looked like it was full of food. Big wooden flats of boxed goods that looked like something one would see in a bulk food store or a factory. Lord only knew what kinds of food her giant metal captor had chosen or how he got it in the first place.

Thundercracker continued,** "You are to remain in **_**this**_** unless I allow you out."** he tapped the cage. His eyes narrowed and his voice became threatening, **"And you are NEVER to leave my quarters unless I take you out myself. Got it?"**

Lana cringed, stepping back from him. She managed a terrified nod.

He leaned back placing a hand to his chin contemplatively, **"Now, what should I call you?"**

_Oh dear Lord. He was trying to name her. _

Swallowing hard Lana spoke up before she received a less than savory identification like Fluffy or Tiny, "L-Lana."

Thundercracker stared down at her, leaning forward a bit, **"What?"**

"P-Please…my name is Lana." she timidly requested.

"**Lana."** the rumbling voice repeated the name. The plates above his red eyes lifted a moment, **"If I use that name will you faithfully come when you're called?**"

Lana again nodded.

"**Very well. Lana it is."** the big mech consented.

At that moment his head perked as if he heard something she didn't. Lana glanced around, confused. Then, his huge hand swooped in from behind her and scooped her up. She cried out, muscles going tense. Promptly he placed her inside the enclosure and dropped the lid/roof on top.

"**I have to go. I'll be back in six megacycles."** the big mech explained, peering in at her, **"If you need anything else to function you can tell me when I return."**

With that, Thundercracker left the room, the lights dimmed, and a large metal door shut in front of her enclosure, bringing up some internal lights in the transparent walls of her cage. But she couldn't see anything beyond the interior of her prison. It appeared her cage was concealed in a cabinet or closet of some kind.

_Six megacycles? How long was that? What would happen when he returned? How was she going to get out of this? COULD she get out of this? Where did these giant robots come from? She was a PET!?_

Questions assaulted Lana's mind like a swarm of bees leaving nothing but stinging uncertainties. Numbly she slumped down in her hammock, her shoulders shaking.

…….

Lana had cried herself to sleep and awoke to find she was still alone. She couldn't see any kind of time device anywhere so she had no idea how long she'd been asleep or what time of day it was. Sliding out of her hammock she slowly walked toward the tunnel that led to the "pool room".

"_Might as well see what this place is like…maybe there's an escape he missed?"_ Lana contemplated to herself.

The pool was about six feet deep but she couldn't reach the top rim of it without jumping. She'd have to find a ladder or a box to stand on to get in. Provided the water wasn't toxic.

Moving on to the next compartment Lana didn't see much of anything, except for a dark metal box. She moved closer to it for an inspection and her eyes rolled upward in mortification. It looked like a futuristic outhouse toilet, but with no walls or any kind of privacy. And more importantly not one scrap of toilet paper.

"Oh-my-God." she moaned, circling the strange latrine.

There was a small hole just like a toilet and Lana peered inside. Darkness. No water that she could see. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a nickel. Curious she dropped the coin into the hole to see how deep it went. A bright flash of green electricity deep inside erupted, vaporizing the coin. Lana screamed briefly and jumped back with closed eyes.

Lana swore quietly, _"I wonder how long I can hold it?"_

Leaving the scary, death-ray toilet behind, Lana proceeded to the final compartment of the enclosure where she found a warehouse store of food. She stared incredulously at the ungodly amount all boxed up.

_How much food did Thundercracker think a human could eat? She couldn't eat this in two years! How the Hell did he obtain all this stuff anyway?_

Curious, she sifted through the boxes. Cereal; about six different kinds, granola bars, every canned veggie known to grocery stores, a crate of macaroni and cheese, bags of flour and sugar, several flats of sports drinks, and even some bags of beef jerky. Lana stared at the macaroni and cheese and snorted.

"Fat chance I could make this without milk and butter…or a stove." she said aloud.

_Flour and sugar? What was she going to do with plain flour and sugar? And all these cans and NO can opener. Great. This was well planned. Well…at least he'd bothered to get her a variety of food AND he somehow managed to get all the non-perishables. _

Still, there were quite a lot of things she still required, toiletries and clothes being number one. Lana dropped the box in her hand and sat on a flat of vegetables, her head in her hands.

_What was she thinking? _

She acted as if she was actually OK with this whole crazy ordeal! She was kidnapped and imprisoned as a lesser life-form against her will—probably for the rest of her life. Her fear was brushed aside with intense frustration and anger. _What right did this Thundercracker have to kidnap her and make her his pet?_ _Why did he pick her anyway? She had to call him Master? That's just ridiculous and demeaning! Stupid giant robots. _

A few minutes passed and then Lana heard a loud hiss and bang coming from outside her enclosure. She could hear and feel the footsteps of whom she guessed was Thundercracker. The panic seized her again and she ducked down behind a few stacks of food.

The metal door outside her cage slid away, revealing her _master_. His red eyes inspected each section of the enclosure, searching for her. She curled up behind the boxes, not wanting to look at him.

"**Lana?"** he called quietly, tapping the wall.

The young woman remained hidden. Quite suddenly the whole room shook violently, Thundercracker's voice rose to commanding volume, **"Lana! Come out NOW."**

Terrified, the redhead jumped to her feet, revealing herself.

The big blue robot's eyes narrowed, **"When I call your name you are to come. Understand?"**

Lana nodded, avoiding eye contact.

His anger seemed to fade and was replaced by a light smile, **"I see you found your energy supply."**

He lifted the lid off and reached in, making Lana duck down. His hand loomed above her as he sounded annoyed, **"Oh, stop cringing. I'm not going to hurt you."**

Thundercracker was ready to pick her up when the small human suddenly exploded, lashing out viciously.

"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU MONSTER!" she screamed, striking at the fingers.

Of course the giant mech barely felt the contact but her intense hostility made him pause. After a moment he plucked her up between his thumb and forefingers. Lana kicked and wiggled, beating against his fingers so hard her hands bruised.

"PUT ME DOWN! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Despite the ferocity in Lana's actions, Thundercracker remained very gentle, almost amused by the vain struggle of his new pet.

"**My, my. What a vicious little human."** he smirked.

His words only intensified Lana's fight. For minutes she struggled until a strangled roar of a scream escaped her throat. Too tired to fight anymore she slumped over the Decepticon's fingers, panting for breath.

Thundercracker seemed very amused as he chuckled deeply, **"See there. You just expended all of your energy for nothing."**

Frustration bored into Lana like a harsh screw, releasing her tears. Lana's whole body shuddered as twin lines of hot tears marred her face. She sobbed, closing her eyes. Thundercracker held her up closer to his optics, bafflement programmed over his metal face.

"**Huh? You're…leaking water?"** he uttered, not believing what he was seeing.

The Seeker had never seen such a strange reaction. For a moment he thought it was some sort of defense mechanism, but his scans told him otherwise. His pet's entire body heated up, flushing her face and neck red while streams of salty water oozed from her eyes. Then her lungs shuddered, seeming to stall their oxygen intake. _**Was she sick? Was she dying? Did he scare her so bad she was going to shut down? Humans were made up of 75 water, would she leak all of it out of her eyes? **_

As quickly as he could Thundercracker accessed the human Internet for answers. Perhaps there was a cure for this leaking? He refused to lose his pet the first day he had it! Picking through the vast fields of information Thundercracker finally found what he sought.

"_**Crying…verb…the act of shedding tears as a response to an emotional state in adult humans…These range from the simple such as response to inflicted **__**pain**__** to the more complex including **__**nonverbal communication**__** in order to elicit helping behavior from others. Due to the chemical composition of emotional tears, some **__**scientists**__** have **__**hypothesized**__** that a function of crying is to rid the body of **__**stress hormones**__**."**_ he read in his processor.

"**Oh."** he seemed to understand. **"So this 'crying' is normal."**

Lana whimpered, "Please… let me go!"

She wasn't sure if it was pity or mere curiosity that made him comply but he delicately placed Lana on the ledge saying, **"Just as long as you promise not to run away."**

She managed to nod and his fingers released from her, leaving her standing on the work ledge. Lana fell to her knees and then her bottom. She scooted back from him, still crying until she was backed up against the outer wall of her enclosure.

Thundercracker shook his head, **"You're REALLY that scared of me huh?"**

Lana merely hiccupped, closing her eyes.

"**Well…I suppose I **_**should**_** expect it. Humans always scream and run when they see us."** He chuckled a bit at the thought, **"You humans are funny when you run."** His large finger gently stroked her shoulder and her side, **"But don't worry. You'll get used to me."**

Lana wiped her eyes, the anger returning, "Why are you doing this to me? Why me?"

The Decepticon shrugged candidly, **"You were alone and easy to catch and I've wanted a human pet for awhile now."**

"Humans aren't pets!" she shouted indignantly.

"**Why not? You're small, you're interesting to watch, you're very trainable, and adaptable."**

Lana's blue eyes seemed to flash with offense but she knew arguing with him would be senseless. In some twisted, alien way it made sense. To him she was no different than a little exotic pet he caught in the wild and now he was intent on keeping her. Humans did the same thing to reptiles, rodents, birds, and fish. She was a little human guinea pig to him.

Wiping her eyes, Lana stood up with an almost challenging lilt in her voice, "You _want_ a human pet?"

"**I have **_**you**_** don't I?"** he replied with a smirk.

"Well…then you've forgotten some key things to keep a human," she mentioned.

He tipped his head, **"Like what?"**

An idea was forming in Lana's brain. Perhaps if she listed all the items and intricacies of a human life, Thundercracker would realize he was in over his head? With any luck he might return her to her home—or rather, the "wild". Then again if he realized the hefty responsibility he might find it easier to get rid of her or get angry with her.

Lana spent the next several minutes rattling off the list of items she'd need in order to be the cleanest, most well cared-for human pet. She explained the cleanliness needs, the dietary needs, and more disturbingly the "womanly needs". The Decepticon's red optics just stared at her, sometimes looking confused.

Coming to the end of her list she finally dropped the hammer, "Of course, it would probably just be easier for you to let me go so I could care for my own needs and save _you_ the trouble."

Thundercracker slowly sat up and reached for her, picking her up. She hoped he was going to do as she suggested. But he placed her back in the enclosure.

"**Well. That's a lot to process."** he said simply.

Without another word he backed up into a wide slot in the wall, activating a crimson band of light that encircled his outline. The wall groaned mechanically and shifted outward until Thundercracker appeared to be resting on a black slab of metal and high tech circuitry. His red optics went off and a dull humming filled the room.

_Did he just…go to sleep?_

Lana sat in her hammock, hoping her words would hit home.


	3. Bad Luck to Worse

A Pet Squishy

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 3: "Bad Luck to Worse"**

The enclosure shook and a loud bang startled Lana awake. Tumbling out of her hammock the young woman cursed and slapped the transparent floor as her one leg became entangled in the material. _Stupid hammock! Stupid hard floor! Stupid giant robots!_

Quite suddenly she caught sight of something outside her enclosure that made her jaw drop. There sitting on the work table were a pair of semi trailers with the big blue letters WALMART boldly plastered on their sides.

"_No…he didn't just…"_ Lana's brain refused to process the trailers sitting there.

She was so stunned she didn't even register Thundercracker reaching in and lifting her out until she was on the counter next to the trailers.

"**Well?"** Thundercracker asked expectantly gesturing to the white metal rectangles.

Lana just stood there like she'd been struck dumb and mute.

Reaching over her, Thundercracker opened the large back door of the back trailer and pulled out the ramp.

Then he gently nudged her toward it, **"Go on and see what's in there."**

Slowly, Lana trudged up the ramp and peered inside. Her heart sank. Toilet paper, clothes, shampoos, hair care products, laundry soap, womanly products, toothpaste, towels…nearly everything she'd listed last night all contained in this one trailer.

_Damn you to HELL Wal-Mart!_

"**I believe the other one has what you call clothes and bedding."** he mentioned.** "So, is that about everything?"** Thundercracker asked with a tone indicating he knew full well that he'd gotten all the things she's listed the day before.

Lana turned, her arms limp at her sides, "How…where did you get all this?"

The Decepticon sat down, still seeming smug, **"Your roadways are covered with these things traveling back and forth. All I had to do was access the purchase orders for this particular company and locate the truck with the correct tracking code."**

"You mean you stole this?" she gestured to the trailer.

"**Lifted it right off the road while the truck was still rolling."** he announced almost proudly.

Lana could see the massive dents in the trailers' sides where Thundercracker's huge hands had gripped them.

"You…you didn't kill anyone for these did you?"

The big mech shrugged, **"Maybe. I didn't notice." **He leaned back smirking, **"So, did your Master do well?"**

Lana sadly closed her eyes and said in a non-excited voice, "Yes…thanks."

"**Thanks **_**what**_**?"** Thundercracker eyed her expectantly.

She ground her teeth and all but vomited the word, "Thanks…Master."

The tip of his finger patted her head gently, **"That's a good little Lana."**

For an instant Lana wanted to swat at his finger and cuss him out but decided not to push her luck. He could very easily deprive her of these much needed items. It was a relief to receive all of these essential supplies, but she felt the price of obtaining them was far too high.

Thundercracker then nudged her back toward the trailers saying, **"You get everything you need out of those and I'll put it in your cage. The rest I'll stash away until you need it."**

Not thinking of anything else better to do, Lana complied.

….

_The a few days perhaps…_

Lana had lost all sense of time in her enclosure. No windows and no clocks rendered her helpless to the uncharted whims of time. _Had she been imprisoned for days or weeks? Was it night or day? _

The young woman covered her red eyes with the back of her arm as she lay in her hammock; crying had been a constant activity. Her mind was the only thing her captor couldn't watch and she retreated into it whenever she could. Although lately, her mind was treating her much more cruelly than the Decepticon had.

"_Well Lana, you just can't get away from being objectified can you? First the boyfriends, then your job, and now…you truly ARE an object."_ her mind bitterly ranted.

Thundercracker was gone again on his daily "duties", whatever they were. Though the solitude was desolate, Lana was glad he was gone. Most her herself hated the big blue mech, leaving only the tiniest scrap of gratitude for him. In truth, his care of her wasn't too bad; she was well-fed, clean, and had more supplies than she'd need in a lifetime. But the mere fact that she wasn't free and she was forced into this situation barred her from accepting him and his "kindness".

Since Thundercracker was gone, Lana decided to take her daily bath. The pool her "master" had provided was perfect to bathe in and somehow the water never seemed to dirty—probably some kind of sophisticated filtration system. He'd even given her a small stack of transparent cubes as stairs to get in the six-foot-tall tank of water. Thanks to the damned Walmart trailer, Lana now had scads of hygiene products as well as towels. She grabbed everything she needed, placed them on the highest step next to the pool, threw off her clothes, and made a small hop into the water. It wasn't "bath water" warm but it wasn't cold either. She swam down to the bottom for moment, letting the hollow silence of the water envelop her. Despite how rotten she felt inside, the water made her feel relaxed. Unhurried, she swam the length of the pool underwater and finally surfaced on the other side. Before she knew it she was swimming laps for no apparent reason, forgetting all about her bath.

Suddenly a loud bang and the sound of shaking footsteps made her stop and there standing over her enclosure was that purple and black robot who'd scared her the day she arrived. He was peering in at her while Thundercracker seemed to be searching for something in his quarters. Lana immediately stopped swimming and closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. Slowly she paddled toward the edge where she'd left her clothes. Unlike most young women who would immediately scream and cover themselves when discovered naked, Lana was numb to the experience. Her former job, after all, required it.

The purple and black robot laughed deeply, **"Hey! I didn't know they could do that!"**

"**What? Swim?"** Thundercracker asked as he searched.

Before Lana could grab her clothes, Skywarp lifted off the roof and pinched the articles between his fingers, **"No. Shed their outer skin**!"

Thundercracker shook his head, **"Skywarp you dim spark! That's not her skin, those are clothes."**

Skywarp squinted with confusion, **"Clothes? What are they for?"**

The blue Seeker shrugged, "**Warmth I guess. She doesn't have much fur."**

Irritated, Lana reached up a demanding hand for her clothes.

Skywarp raised a brow plate and smirked, lowering the clothes closer to her. Just as Lana's hand reached for them the big mech lifted them out of her reach. He snickered.

"**Aww. So close,"** he teased lowering the clothes again and shaking them for effect, **"Come on squishy, you can get them. See?"**

Lana scowled up at him but tried one more time to seize her clothes. Predictably, Skywarp yanked the articles out of her reach again with a laugh. The young woman hissed with vehemence and climbed out of the pool, not even caring about her bare state. She couldn't win this game and she wasn't going to play it. Trying to ignore the mech, she reached for her towel.

With a narrow-eyed smirk, Skywarp suddenly jarred her enclosure with his hand. The tremor shook Lana so hard she stumbled back and fell into the pool again.

The purple Seeker burst into a raucous fit of laughter, **"Ha! Ha! Did you see that TC? I got her good!"**

Thundercracker rolled his optics, **"Knock it off Warp."**

"**I just DID!"** he snickered.

Lana was cursing through grit teeth as she gripped the edge of the pool. She could already see the expectation gleaming in Skywarp's red optics. The moment she climbed out he'd knock her in again.

Thundercracker walked past Skywarp's bent form and grabbed one of the high-set panels of his shoulder, dragging him away from the enclosure, **"Leave my human alone Warp. We have to go out on patrols."**

"**Aww come on! It's fun." **the Seeker protested.

Ignoring his wingman's objection, Thundercracker hauled him out. Lana dropped her forehead on the rim of the pool and sighed.

"_An object of amusement…that's what you are."_ her mind spat.

Little did she know how much "amusement" she'd be used for.

….

_Perhaps a day later…_

It was dark in Thundercracker's quarters except for the low lights inside Lana's enclosure. The young woman had settled down for a nap in her hammock when she heard a funny reverberating _whoosh_ sound. Lana rolled over and automatically looked around for the source of the strange noise. She groaned and rolled her eyes, remembering she couldn't see anything beyond the "closet" her cage was stashed inside. It was probably just Thundercracker. Lana decided then and there to ignore her "master" and pretend she was asleep if he opened the door of the "closet". On cue she heard the door hiss open and she buried her head deeper into her new sheets.

Suddenly, without warning her whole enclosure jumped jarring her straight out of her hammock onto the floor in a heap.

"OW! HEY!" she screamed angrily, trying to unravel herself from the mass of cloth.

Her blue eyes burned intensely but quickly widened. It wasn't Thundercracker…it was Skywarp.

The purple and black Seeker bent down and smirked impishly at her, **"Hey squishy! Wake up!"**

Lana growled with hatred and kicked away the cloth entangling her leg. She stood up and forcefully threw one of her pillows at the devious mech's face, but the soft projectile hit the transparent wall harmlessly.

"Leave me _alone_!" she snapped with all the venom she could inject.

"**Aww. Little squishy is grumpy."** Skywarp crooned derisively.

As the redhead stared daggers at the Seeker, a sudden realization made her stomach churn—Thundercracker wasn't with him. It was just her and Skywarp. She wasn't sure why, but a ball of fear was swelling behind her throat.

"_**Poor**_** squishy, all caged up."** he continued his over-exaggerated concern as he slowly removed the lid to her room, **"Wanna go for a nice little walk with Skywarp?"**

Lana gasped and made a break for her second room but she wasn't quick enough.

"**Gotcha!"** Skywarp exclaimed clamping his hand around her body and lifting her out.

"LET ME GO!" the young woman demanded.

Skywarp mouth plates lifted and his optics flashed, **"If you insist."**

Lana let loose a shrill scream of terror when the Seeker's hand suddenly opened, sending her plummeting toward the unforgiving floor. But, Skywarp's other hand swooped in and caught her by the leg. He laughed as he held her up to his face.

"**What's the matter squishy? Don't like heights?"** he chuckled.

Filling her lungs at an almost unsafe rate, Lana clasped her hands pleading, "PLEASE…please don't drop me!"

"**But I thought you wanted to be **_**let go**_**."** the purple jet Con sneered.

She shook her head hard and Skywarp grasped her torso in his other fist, returning her to an upright position again.

"**Ok then."**

Lana trembled uncontrollably. Her near death encounter almost made her want to throw up. However, she swallowed the bitterness welling in the back of her throat to prevent a nasty repercussion from her captor. If she spewed on him he might just squish her.

"What do you want?" she whimpered.

"**I told you. You're going for a little 'walk' with me."** the mech replied.

She didn't know why but she asked, "Where's Thundercracker?"

Skywarp flicked his other hand, **"Oh, he's up guarding the com station. He won't be back for awhile so I thought I'd have some fun."**

"Then HAVE your fun, just leave ME out of it!" the human girl implored.

She didn't like the expression the mech took on, **"But YOU are the key to this fun." **He took a step toward the door and stopped,** "You might feel a little jolt."**

Before Lana could ask anything the whole world seemed to blur into horrid streams of incoherent color and light. She screamed but her sound never made it to her ears. A high-pitched ringing and more light invaded her senses until suddenly everything stopped like a roller coaster coming to a halt. Lana's stomach lurched as her head lolled back. She instantaneously heard her own scream coupled with Skywarp's cruel laughter.

"**Ha! Teleportation, squishy! Fun ain't it?"** he snickered.

Lana covered her mouth but couldn't hold it back. She forcefully leaned over Skywarp's fingers and threw up.

"**OH! SLAG! That's GROSS!"** he groaned, loosening his grip ever so slightly and holding her away from him.

Head spinning with delirium, Lana wiped her mouth and whimpered. Oddly she felt better.

Skywarp turned her over to examine his hand for any collateral damage, **"You're LUCKY you didn't get any of that nasty bio fluid on me."**

"Don't do that _again_." she moaned.

"**YOU'D better not do THAT again or I'll snap one of your legs off!"** he growled, eyes deadly serious.

Carefully avoiding the small mess on the floor below, Skywarp briskly marched down the long purple corridor. It was stark, empty, and made completely of metal which made every one of Skywarp's footsteps twice as loud. Lana allowed her eyes to wander around. She'd never seen any other part of this building or wherever she was being held captive. It honestly looked all the same to her aside from the strange alien markings on the walls —probably some kind of hall map. Lana wasn't sure where they were since Skywarp obviously had the power to teleport, but she tried to memorize the strange symbols. Maybe it would help if she ever escaped?

"Where are you taking me?" she inquired. "What are you doing?"

He gave an evil smile, **"You'll see, squishy. You'll see."**

After a few minutes Skywarp repositioned his hand so Lana was completely hidden inside it. She cringed but when she realized he wasn't going to smash her she peered through the tiny spaces between his fingers. All around she could hear the deep rumbling mechanical sounds of other robots "talking" and she even caught a glimpse of a few different shades of armor flashing by. Through the tiny crevices Lana saw a big robot with the same body design as Thundercracker and Skywarp except he was white, red, and blue with a black helmet and face. The new jet robot appeared to be reading some kind of huge hand-held computer tablet, totally oblivious to Skywarp's presence.

Without any warning the horrible flashing of color made Lana close her eyes.

_Damn teleportation._

When she dared to open her eyes again she gasped, realizing Skywarp was now only a few feet from the red, white, and blue jet Con. His hand slowly opened. Delicately he gripped her chest between his fingers and very gingerly extended her toward the other robot.

Lana's heart banged hard against her ribs. She wanted to fight, wanted to keep away from this new robot but instead she froze. The young woman turned to Skywarp, shaking her head and mouthing "NO". But the purple Seeker's face was plastered with a devious grin. With all the delicacy of a bomb technician, Skywarp placed Lana on the white boxy shoulder of the unsuspecting Seeker.

Frozen in a crouched position, Lana held her breath. Her eyes darted back to Skywarp but he had already disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room to watch. The jet robot didn't seem aware Lana was even on him as he continued to read. Then, it happened. He leaned just slightly, causing Lana to lose her balance and bump into the tall red vent next to her. The mech's head perked and slowly his great head turned, red optics fixed on her.

"_**YAAAAAGH!"**_

Lana's hands flew to her ears as the Seeker unleashed the loudest, ear-splitting shriek she'd ever heard. He leaped to his feet, spinning so fast he sent Lana tumbling off of his shoulder and down his side, until she managed to catch the panel that formed the mech's knee cap and held on for dear life. The mech's hands banged his shoulder violently, trying in vain to swat her like a bug. Luckily, she wasn't there to swat.

She squeaked in terror as her fingers slipped off the slick blue metal. The mech spun around, swinging his long legs to find her. It was a senseless effort to hang on so Lana let go. It was only about a twelve foot drop from the mech's knee to the ground but she managed to bang against his hard blue foot before rolling painfully on the metal floor. A numb, throbbing pain pulsed through most of her injured body as the redhead pushed herself up. Adrenaline was the only thing that urged her to run…that and the giant metal feet trying to stomp the life out of her.

_**A/N: Ok this chapter was completely inspired by those HILARIOUS prank videos where people put a fake mouse or spider on some unsuspecting victim. Those make me laugh SO hard I just had to use it! Just go to You Tube and type in Mouse Prank for hours of freak-out hilarity.**_


	4. Nowhere to Go

A Pet Squishy

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 4: "Nowhere to Go"**

_In the Con Rec Room…_

Lana ran for her life, dodging the huge merciless feet that were trying to snuff out her existence. She scurried under a two-story-tall metal table and desperately searched for someplace to hide. Without warning the entire table lifted off the floor and flew across the room with a mighty BANG!. Automatically her arms flew over her head to shield herself as she ran until she saw a large metal console nearby with a small space at its back. She made a B-line for the niche and dove behind it. Successfully hidden, Lana collapsed in a heap wheezing for breath and suddenly felt the pain in her body. Over her terrified gasps she could hear the whole room roar with laughter as well as an angry screeching voice.

…

"**WHERE IS IT?! WHERE DID IT GO?"** Starscream demanded loudly, spinning around with his null cannons glowing ready to fire should he see any small form dart into his line of sight.

Only guttural laughter answered him.

"**Ha! Ha! Ha! What's the matter Screamer? Scared of a little human?"** Skywarp shouted through his fit of mirth.

"_**YOU!**_**"** the Air Commander pointed,** "You put that disgusting thing on me!" **

"**Brilliant deduction Starscream."** Astrotrain mocked in his reverberating metal voice.

"**Shut up Astrotrain!"** Starscream spat nastily as he stormed closer to his guilty wingman.

The drone twins Rumble and Frenzy were leaning against each other laughing their heads off on one of the metal table tops and calling in sing song voices, **"Ha! Ha! **_**Screamer's afraid of a squishy!**_**"**

In an instant, Starscream's null rays whipped around and leveled at the two drones, **"SILENCE you idiotic pests or I'll have you melted down for aft plates!"**

"**Can I be a femme aft plate?"** Rumble asked lewdly.

Frenzy slapped his brother's shoulder giggling, **"I wanna be a femme chest plate!"**

The Seeker snarled and swatted them off of the table with his hand, sending them crashing into the wall. Then he stomped over to where Skywarp was about ready to short-circuit from laughing so hard. In an instant, Starscream leaped on the purple Seeker and drove him to the floor, pummeling him with his fists.

"**You pile of conniving scrap!"** he shrieked. **"How DARE you bring that thing in here and throw it on me!"**

Skywarp threw up his hands to defend his face though he was still laughing, **"**_**Hey**_** Screamer…"**

"**DON'T call me THAT!"** the jet Con screeched driving a booted foot into Skywarp's cockpit and cracking the tough material.

At once the pain brought Skywarp out of his mirth. He disappeared from under Starscream and reappeared behind him. With a deft kick he knocked the Second in Command into the wall. The other Cons in the room began backing off, egging the fight on. Starscream flipped onto his feet and fired twin shots from his null rays. Before Skywarp could teleport one of the beams struck him in the arm, rendering it immobile. The two Seekers locked hands and began bashing each other with metal fists.

Suddenly a deep menacing voice cut through the air, **"WHAT is going on here?"**

In an instant every rowdy Decepticon in the Rec Room was on his feet at attention when Megatron's imposing gun-metal gray form strode into the room. His harsh red optics darted from Con to Con until they rested on his second in command and Skywarp who were still scuffling.

"_**ENOUGH!"**_ the warlord barked firing a warning shot from his massive arm cannon.

The two Seekers halted their fight, sheepishly pulling apart and standing at attention to avoid getting shot by a second blast. Megatron marched up to the pair of them, his optics scrutinizing. Starscream had multiple dents in his armor and Skywarp had a cracked cockpit and a limp arm.

He narrowed his optic shutters menacingly and pointed at Skywarp, **"Skywarp, explain this!"**

"**SKYWARP EXPLAIN?!"** Starscream shouted indignantly. **"I am your Second in Command; MY word should be heard FIRST!"**

A quick backhanded smack to Starscream's helmet and Megatron hissed, **"Shut up Starscream! If I want you to speak I'll command it!"**

When Megatron's optics directed at Skywarp the Seeker saluted and explained, **"Megatron, Sir. Morale has been lower that usual on the Nemesis, so I decided to boost it with a little…entertainment."**

Megatron snorted, he'd heard this excuse before. Skywarp was notorious for his prank-pulling in the Decepticon ranks; almost as bad as Rumble and Frenzy. The Decepticon Commander had little tolerance for such idiocy. But, it seemed a constant on the Nemesis during his soldiers' down-time. Sometimes he felt he commanded nothing but a bunch of well-armed morons.

"**In other words… you pulled some kind of prank on Starscream." **Megatron sounded unimpressed.

Skywarp nodded, **"Yes sir."**

By this time Starscream's wings were vibrating he was so livid. His mouth was open ready to unleash his legendary voice, but he kept it harnessed lest Megatron beat the slag out of him. Shuttering his optics, Megatron noted the Seeker's expression and growled with dread.

Derisively he inquired, "_**All right**_, **Starscream…what did he do THIS time?"**

Seeming physically relieved of the burden of remaining silent, Starscream straightened his shoulders importantly and pointed at Skywarp, **"Megatron, that glitch brought a flesh creature into **_**our**_** base and had the audacity to place its disgusting carcass on ME!"**

A few snickers hissed in the room, only making Starscream glance around angrily. Megatron allowed himself a ghost of a smirk; Starscream's humiliation pleased him.

"**Enough."** Megatron pinned Skywarp with a stern glare, **"You brought a human into my ship?"**

Skywarp nodded, **"Yes sir. I caught it on patrol and decided Starscream could use a little jumpstart."**

With an aggressive gesture, Starscream shouted, **"Jumpstart?! I am the Supreme Air Commander of the Decepticon forces, NOT a target of your childish pranks! I demand you treat me with respect!"**

"**Respect is **_**earned**_** Starscream, something you cannot grasp."** Megatron degraded the Seeker. He slanted his harsh gaze to Skywarp, **"Is the human terminated?"**

The purple and black Seeker shrugged, **"Probably."** and then added with hints of disdain,** "Ask our **_**Supreme Air Commander.**_**"**

"**I terminated it! I know I did!"** Starscream lied, trying to defend his honor.

"**Well then you have nothing to complain about Starscream." **the Decepticon leader concluded. His fierce optics flashed at Skywarp. **"And as for you…"**soundly he delivered a vicious smack to the side of Skywarp's head, "**Stop these moronic displays! You are Decepticons—ACT like it!"**

With a snort of contempt, Megatron left the Rec Room wondering if it was possible to reprogram the stupidity out of his forces. He severely doubted it.

Once Megatron left, most of the Cons did the same. Starscream glared daggers at his wingman.

His tone dropped to a deadly octave, **"You will PAY for that Skywarp. If I see that flesh creature again, YOU and IT will meet the underside of my foot!"**

"**Keep dreamin' Screamer."** Skywarp sneered as his treacherous wingman stormed out.

He snickered, shaking his head. Whatever revenge Starscream was planning, it would be well worth the laugh he got out of this prank.

He glanced around the Rec Room to make sure no one was watching and began calling quietly.** "Squishy. Come here squishy." **

…

From behind the console Lana heard Skywarp calling her. There was no way in HELL she was going to come to him EVER! Buttoning her lip she breathed shallowly to avoid detection. For all _he_ knew she was killed by that robot called Starscream. (The name certainly fit; her ears were still ringing.)

"**Come on squishy. Come out." **Skywarp continued to call, searching under the metal tables and chairs. **"I'm not going to hurt you. Here, squishy, squishy!"**

Lana cursed in her mind, _"In your dreams shit head."_

A minute or two passed when Lana suddenly realized Skywarp was coming closer to her hiding place. One peek behind the console and she'd be found. She had to hide somewhere better. Just then, Lana noticed a small vent shaft a few feet away behind the console with her. Pain throbbing in her limbs and torso she lifted herself up and limped to the opening. She smiled lightly when she discovered its slats were big enough for her to slip through. Lying on her stomach she slid between the slats and entered the metal vent. It was dark but at least it was big enough for her to walk in.

With a quiet exhale she sat down, waiting for Skywarp to give up his search. It took several long minutes but eventually she heard the Decepticon curse and leave the room. A few long moments of silence passed until Lana peered down the length of the vent shaft and saw a light. The dimmest flicker of hope ignited her drive to move; perhaps that light was a way out—perhaps she could finally be free!

….

Thundercracker was monitoring a station in the Control Room with Soundwave. Typically, Soundwave ran the whole Nemesis by himself, but every now and again one of their number was assigned Control Room duty. It was typically boring and very, very quiet given present company. Soundwave only moved his head and his hands, rarely speaking unless something vital needed to be reported or adjusted.

Bored, Thundercracker tapped his arm plating wishing something half-way notable would happen. An Autobot raid would be optimal considering it would free him from this processor-numbing boredom. His hum drum stupor was shattered when Rumble and Frenzy sauntered in, laughing and talking quickly.

Soundwave turned his head only minutely upon hearing and sensing his drones.

Rumble waved his arm at his host, **"Man, you missed a great prank on Screamer, Boss."**

Soundwave continued to work.

"**Yeah! Even YOU woulda laughed at this one!"** Frenzy agreed.** "You shoulda seen how high Screamer jumped."** the red and black drone imitated the Seeker's earlier reaction.

Soundwave didn't even look at his performance.

"**Ha! Ha! Yeah. I hate Skywarp, but every now and again he comes up with some good ideas."** Rumble agreed, **"Why didn't **_**we**_** think of that?"**

His brother shrugged, **"Maybe we ought to catch a fleshy and use it to prank someone else!"**

Thundercracker perked his head, **"What?"**

Rumble turned to the blue Seeker, gesturing crazily since someone was finally listening to their story, **"OH! You shoulda seen it TC! Skywarp got Screamer good."**

"**What did you say about a fleshy?"** he leaned forward, trying to hide the dread in his vocal processor.

The pair hissed with laughter, leaning into each other.

"**What about a fleshy?"** Thundercracker persisted.

"**Skywarp snuck a human into the base and put it on Screamer's shoulder when he wasn't lookin'."** Frenzy explained.** "Man he was fritzed!"**

Rumble imitated the Air Commander's reaction swatting at his shoulders and stomping around like he was short circuiting.

Thundercracker suddenly felt his tanks turn, **"Did he KILL it?"**

The pair shrugged and Rumble said, **"I dunno, but it was funny."**

Faking a smirk, the blue Con nodded, **"Yeah. Heh heh…great prank."**

Uncomfortable, Thundercracker pretended to look at his monitors again. No doubt about it…it was Lana they were talking about. He wanted to leave, but couldn't. If Soundwave suspected a sudden change in him the telepath would probably scan his mainframe and figure out the truth. He just had to play it cool until his shift ended.

….

_About that same time…_

Taking her time, Lana slowly moved toward the light further down the metal shaft. She pursed her lips with determination, hoping this would lead her to freedom. Suddenly she heard a distant whirring sound. She stopped. A small vibration buzzed into her feet through the metal panels. What if this vent was equipped with some kind of fan? She'd be chopped into little human bits and spewed everywhere. Or maybe some kind of toxic gas passed through these metal passageways?

"_Maybe…this wasn't such a good idea_."

Suddenly before she could come up with an even more gruesome scenario, one reared its metaphorical head. It sounded like a mechanical hum coupled with an electric popping. The redhead squinted deeper into the darkness of the vent shaft and saw a green light coming closer.

"OUCH!" Lana gasped as her hand was bit with a twinge of static.

The green light came closer, the humming grew louder. She stepped back and another shock hit her feet.

"OW!" she cried.

Then she saw what was producing the green light. A metal sphere with twin pairs of gyroscoping metal rings whirling around it was hovering through the tunnel. Small bolts of electricity arced off of the rings and touched every surface of the metal tunnel.

Lana wasn't sure what it was but she wasn't going to stick around to find out. Turning on her heels she ran the opposite direction, static nipping viciously at her feet like bee stings. The green glowing orb kept coming at a steady pace and Lana easily outran it but suddenly another orb came from the other direction.

"Oh no." she hissed, backpedaling the way she came.

The first orb was still coming. Trapped. Lana rocked back and forth with panic, trying to decide what to do. Then, without warning something beneath her clicked and she fell down a long dark chute with a scream. It was too dark for the young woman to see anything but her back and elbow kept striking the sides of the metal tube as she slid downward. It was like riding a metal slide but much more uncontrolled and painful. Lana screamed as she slid faster and faster until.

_WHAM!_

Wincing and whimpering Lana felt metal bars digging into her legs and backside. She gingerly sat up and realized the chute had dropped her up against another vent opening. Never so happy to see light, Lana squirmed through the slats, falling on her bottom in yet another purple metal corridor. Except this one was a corridor designed for giant robots to traverse. She was out of that damned air shaft—but NOW where was she? The redhead tried to stand up but a sharp pain sliced up her leg into her back, preventing such a move.

"Damn." she whispered resigning to the floor.

She must've sprained something—when and how _exactly_ she couldn't know. Her last couple of hours had been rather life-threatening. Eyes darting about, Lana tried to decipher where she was.

"_A purple corridor—that helps."_ she thought dismally.

_How was she ever going to find her way out of this place without getting killed in the process?_


	5. Toy Mouse

A Pet Squishy

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 5: "Toy Mouse"**

_In one of the corridors of the Nemesis…_

Thundercracker's shift ended at last and immediately he set off for the Rec Room to find his wingman or his pet, whichever he found first. He honestly hoped to find his pet first and get her back to the safety of her enclosure; his little "discussion" with Warp could be postponed.

_**Why did Skywarp always do this?**_ Anytime he obtained something, the purple Seeker would find some way to exploit, damage, or destroy it. _**Why couldn't he ruin his OWN stuff? Why was it always HIS stuff?**_

Rumble and Frenzy had been no help in discovering the condition of his pet after the subsequent "prank" on Starscream and not knowing worried the Seeker. _**Had Starscream terminated her? Was she nothing more than squishy smear on the Nemesis deck plates?**_

_**Or perhaps she escaped and was running wild through the Nemesis corridors?**_ That notion certainly didn't bode well for the tiny creature with so many giant feet stomping around, not to mention the overall distaste for humans among the Decepticon ranks. Thundercracker couldn't think of any mech who wouldn't squash a human on sight given the opportunity. Hell, most of the Decepticons considered killing humans a fun pastime. The odds were certainly not in Lana's favor if she was discovered.

Thundercracker just hoped he would find her first.

However, that was not the case; he found Skywarp first. The purple and black Seeker was bent over creeping along the corridor walls, eyes seeming to dart across the floor. Wings rocking dangerously with each heated step, Thundercracker closed the gap between them and seized the sensitive panel of Skywarp's right wing nearest to his back. Skywarp grunted with pain as he was hauled bodily to a full standing position.

"**Where IS she Warp?"** the big blue Con growled, yanking Skywarp back.

"**Huh?" **

Thundercracker squeezed the sensitive wing panel causing Skywarp's right arm to jerk up. Unfortunately for the purple Seeker he couldn't reach his assailant. All Seekers knew where to hold one of their own to keep them from attacking and/or how to get answers.

"**OW! OW! TC! OW! KNOCK IT OFF!"** Warp complained.

Thundercracker shoved his wingman face first into the corridor wall, **"WHERE Warp?"**

"_**Hey!**_** Come on TC, I thought we were pals!"** he whined.

"**PALS don't steal each other's stuff and then LOSE it!"** the blue Seeker interjected.

The purple and black Con nodded, feeling the pressure increase with his friend's anger, **"Ok. Ok. I deserve that. I DID take her…for a little walk."**

"**Walk?"** Thundercracker's voice lowered, **"According to a couple witnesses you did MORE than walk."**

"**AAAND…I mighta, sorta used her for a little prank on Screamer."** Skywarp confessed.

Growling deep in his vocalizer, Thundercracker demanded, **"Did he kill her?"**

Skywarp turned his head as far as his neck servos would allow, **"Why the slag does THAT matter?"**

"**DID he kill her?"** the blue Con repeated in a gravely voice.

"**I don't know! I didn't see any squished squishy anywhere so I'm assuming she escaped and is probably running around the ship somewhere."** Skywarp surmised.

Snarling, Thundercracker released his wingman and delivered a swift kick to his aft, **"Slag it Warp! Now everyone's going to know!"**

"**Hey! I didn't retro-rat you out. I told everyone I found it on patrols."** the purple Con admitted. **"No one even knows it was yours."**

A small flood of relief filled his processors. Though he couldn't trust Warp with his stuff, he _could_ trust him not to be a snitch. That meant no one knew he was keeping a human as a pet.

"**Well…you're STILL going to help me find her."** the blue Seeker pointed tersely at him.

"**Fine! Fine."**

Thundercracker narrowed his optics, **"And Primus help you if I find her dead!"**

….

_In the next corridor…_

Lana huddled against the wall, eyes wide, and breathing measured as a pair of massive brightly colored purple and yellow Decepticons walked past her. Their overall build resembled construction vehicles, one looked part bulldozer and the other looked like it had crane parts. Both were conversing in that strange mechanical language that she had no hope of understanding. Lana held perfectly still, hoping her small size and stillness would go unnoticed.

Just as they took a step past her the bulldozer-looking mech made a sharp crackling sound and struck his comrade's shoulder in a challenging way, throwing him off balance. All air left Lana's lungs as the crane mech stumbled backward his foot descending toward her. The young woman closed her eyes and instinctually covered her head in sheer terror, waiting for her inevitable death. A deafening crash and Lana felt her bottom leave the cold metal floor briefly before unceremoniously dropping her on her side. She cracked open an eyelid and her vision became filled with obnoxious yellow and purple colored metal. Inches—that's how close his foot was—so close she could smell the metal and the faintest waft of dirt. Lana was frozen with fear as she lay curled in a fetal ball.

"_Don't step back. Don't step back."_ she pleaded silently to the metal colossus.

Much to her relief the mech's hydraulics hissed and he moved away from her, rumbling deeply and pointing at the bulldozer who'd shoved him. Completely oblivious to her small presence they rounded the corner and disappeared, still arguing. A huge sigh of relief passed from Lana's lungs as she covered her face.

She couldn't stay in this corridor forever—too many ways to get squashed. Massaging her still throbbing leg, Lana knew she'd have to force herself up. With grit teeth she braced her back to the metal wall and placed all her weight on her uninjured limb. She took a few measured breaths and finally stood on two feet. The pain cut at her back and left leg but she did her level best to ignore it and hobble down the corridor.

Maybe if she was lucky she could find a way out of this dangerous Hell of giant robots. She could only hope escape was possible. There had to be someway out!

….

_In the Rec Room…_

"**Lana. Come here Lana."** Thundercracker called gently so as not to draw any attention.

Searching for a human and remaining inconspicuous were proving to be difficult challenges. Anytime a fellow Decepticon passed by the Rec Room they'd have to stop searching and pretend they were just shooting the breeze. No one knew the Seekers' secret and that's the way it was going to remain.

Noncommittally turning over another chair, Skywarp mumbled, **"This is ridiculous TC. We're **_**never**_** going to find that puny thing."**

"**YOU lost her. YOU'RE helping me find her!"** the blue Con rasped.

Frowning, the purple jet Con kicked a discarded Energon cube across the floor still grumbling.

Thundercracker moved over to the wall and noticed the Energon distributing console had a small space behind it.

_**Yeah…a human could fit behind there.**_

Leaning his bulk into the boxy hunk of machinery, the Seeker nudged it away from the wall. No Lana. He frowned with disappointment but suddenly noticed the tiniest scrap of white cloth fluttering against one of the vent's slats. Delicately, he snatched up the piece of cloth and examined it. It looked like a fragment of Lana's clothes.

"**Hey! I think she's in the ventilation system."** Thundercracker mentioned with hope in his tone.

Skywarp made a "tsking" sound, **"Ooo. That's a shame. The filter drones probably vaporized her."**

A very concerned look formed on Thundercracker's face as he stared at the scrap of cloth.

Skywarp arched a questioning brow plate, **"Geez, TC, why are you getting so worked up about that squishy anyway? It's not like you can't get another one."**

"**I don't WANT another one! I want MINE."** Thundercracker snapped.

"**What's the difference? They're practically all the same."** the purple jet Con retorted.

Thundercracker crossed his arms, **"I liked mine. She was well-behaved and I think she was starting to tame down a little bit."**

"**Well get another one that's just as well-behaved and you can tame it down too."** Skywarp suggested, **"I'll even help you."**

The big blue Con shook his head and sat down in a chair heavily, **"I don't want another one."**

Staring at the ceiling with exasperation Skywarp replied, **"Come ON TC. Quit being so sentimental. It was JUST a human."**

The blue Seeker didn't reply.

"**Hey, I said I was sorry."** the purple Con tried.

"**No you didn't."**

Skywarp tipped his helmet, **"I didn't? Oh. Well, I'm sorry for losing your pet." **He nodded with satisfaction and gripped his friend's shoulder vent, **"There. You happy now? Can we JUST go find another one?"**

"**No! I don't WANT another one."** Thundercracker repeated brusquely.

His friend rolled his optics, **"All right, fine. No new human, I get it. Then can we PLEASE forget about it and get on with our lives?"**

Expelling air from his vents, Thundercracker half-heartedly nodded and followed his wingman out of the Rec Room. Just as they began walking down the hall a high pitched scream made them stop.

Skywarp smirked, **"I guess the filter drones didn't get her."**

Then they heard a loud hissing snarl.

He winced,** "But Ravage might."**

….

Lana had no idea where the metal beast came from but before she even heard its metal paws hit the floor it was pouncing straight at her. She screamed and ducked as the horse-sized robotic cat leaped right over her head. With all the grace of the organic creature the silver and black beast landed on its feet and whirled around to face her, metal fangs bared. Lana was petrified with fear. Hissing and snarling the metal cat stalked closer, its red optics flashing with excitement.

"Nice kitty…good kitty." Lana squeaked timidly, trying in vain to calm the vicious metal creature.

But the cybernetic cat was impervious to sweet words. She was prey—prey didn't get off on sweet words. As the beast slinked closer, Lana's memories of an animal attack show on TV resurfaced.

_When confronted by a big cat you should make yourself as big as possible, shout loudly, and move toward the predator. Don't run._ _By making yourself appear dangerous the creature will determine you are not an easy target and retreat._

Panic forced Lana to try. Lifting her arms up and arching her shoulders she roared as loudly as she could at the metal cat.

It stared at her.

She hissed and moved closer, waving her arms. Suddenly, with a deft swat of its paw the cyber panther knocked Lana to the floor.

The young woman cried out in panic as the beast circled her prone form almost daring her to try to run. She held up a hand as some pitiful shield should the monster go straight for her jugular. Nothing she did could stop this thing from ripping her to shreds. Knowing she couldn't run even if she did manage to get up, Lana did the only thing instinct prompted, curl up face down and protect your throat and vitals.

The moment she curled up she felt the beast's metal paw touch her side and then she felt he razor edged claws as they extended out, digging into her skin. She cried out as the creature rolled her over, trying to get her vitals exposed. Rolling quickly, Lana thwarted its first attempt and resumed her fetal ball. The metal panther snarled lightly and mercilessly began batting her across the floor with hard swats of its paws. Lana could already feel the bruises forming on her extremities as the harsh floor banged her up. She was going to face the same fate of every unfortunate mouse caught by a cat—she was going to be played with her until she succumbed to heart failure or internal bleeding, whichever occurred first.

….

Thundercracker and Skywarp moved quickly but not too much that it looked suspicious. Finally they rounded the corner and there was Ravage circling the prone form of Thundercracker's pet human. The metal panther leaped over to its prey, swatted it across the floor, and then chased after the form.

"**Aww, look. They're playing."** Skywarp crooned quietly.

Thundercracker shot him a deadly glare and it took every ounce of control to not boot Ravage away from his pet. But he couldn't act like it was his. Ravage couldn't know it was his or he'd definitely tell Soundwave and then…BUSTED. But he had to get Lana away from Ravage quickly before he killed her.

"**Hey, Ravage. Whatcha got there?"** Thundercracker asked in a loud voice.

The cyber-panther craned his neck around and glared at the two Seekers snarling in Cybertronian, _**"What do YOU want?"**_

Thinking it was his cue Skywarp jumped in the little drama,** "Ravage! Is that a human you've caught?" **hescolded, **"You know you're not supposed to have those on the ship."**

The metal panther's fierce red eyes narrowed, _**"My brothers inform me YOU were the imbecile who brought it on board."**_ He batted the prone form, _**"Although, they never mentioned Starscream didn't manage to kill it."**_

"**So what are you doing with it?"** the blue Seeker inquired, trying to hide the concern building in his mainframe.

Ravage made a light purring noise, _**"I found it and I've decided to play with it until it expires."**_

Suddenly, before Ravage could exact another "play" attack on Lana, Thundercracker knelt down and scooped her up. With a snarl of indignation Ravage swiped at the ascending human, managing to rake some gashes in Thundercracker's hand.

"_**HEY! That's mine!"**_ Ravage hissed nastily, crouching for an attack.

"**Ravage if you play with it you're just going to make a huge organic mess all over the place."** Thundercracker insisted, **"I'm going to dispose of it properly. Unless of course you want to explain to Megatron how his ship got soiled with little human bits?"**

Ravage relaxed his pouncing posture and glared dangerously at them, _**"Fine. I was done with it anyway."**_

Sauntering off peevishly, Ravage turned his tail around and left.

Thundercracker immediately opened his hand and placed a finger on Lana's torso. She was alive. His sensors indicated she was banged up but nothing life-threatening. Her left leg was also hot and swelling, a human indication of injury. It was only dumb luck she'd survived at all.

"**So am I off the hook now?"** Skywarp asked after a moment.

The blue Seeker didn't answer as he briskly marched back to his quarters, Lana in hand.


	6. What do you want to be when you grow up

A/N: I'm so pleased everyone is enjoying this little fic, so much so that the impatience for a new chapter seems to be an issue with some readers

_**A/N: I'm so pleased everyone is enjoying this little fic, so much so that the impatience for a new chapter seems to be an issue with some readers. I promise I will finish chapters as time, my idea flow, and my student teaching permit. BUT given the critical juncture I am reaching in my education and my life, chapters may not be as forth-coming as previous. That's life I guess…I'm about ready to jump out of the nest of college and fly in the real world. **_

_**For once I've actually received a negative review, BUT it was a well-written critique about my characters and writing style. In his opinion my main characters seem to all be the same but in all honesty I just don't see that. Perhaps I mirror my characters after myself or at least how I'd like to be. True my female characters are strong willed, hesitant but confident, and good-natured. However, they are very different characters in my mind.**_

_**Now as for my NOT planning this out beforehand…he's right. These stories, plots, and characters just come to me randomly. Writing is just a fun pastime for me, something to help me relax and I honestly don't have time to consider where my stories are going given my schedule. So to "C", whoever you are, I appreciate the honest, eloquent critique but that's just my way of writing. **_

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 6: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"**

_Back in Thundercracker's quarters…_

Lana was stunned; literally. She had feeling in her body—mostly pain. Her eyes managed to wander up to the face of her "master" who was carrying her back to his quarters. Tears of pain and unbridled emotions wet her cheeks. She almost died—five times. Never in her life had she even come close to being placed in the hospital and now her life had been nearly snuffed out five times in probably less than five hours. It was just too much for her mind to deal with, so crying and shivering were the only instinctual reactions she could muster.

Thundercracker sidled into his work chair and grabbed a large pile of blankets from inside Lana's enclosure. He placed them on his work station and then gingerly placed Lana on the pile. She limply reclined on her side, still trembling.

The big blue Con's optics flicked back and forth as he scanned the human Internet for medical journals and first aid tutorials. Lana's injuries were not life-threatening, but there appeared to be what was known as a "sprain" in her left leg. His red optics stared down at her body, performing a further scan. There were hemorrhages beneath her skin from Ravage's "playing" as well as a few skin abrasions. Her chest supports known as "ribs" seemed injured as well, but not broken. According to his research there didn't appear to be any cure for such hemorrhages. But relief for his pet's relatively undamaged state flooded his CPU. She could've been a lot worse off.

However, the sprain needed tending. According to his First Aid research the limb needed to be elevated and then cooled to bring the swelling down. Piling the blankets under her infirm leg he elevated the limb as instructed and tried to determine a way to get coolness on the injury.

Then he found a way. He leaned over toward a coolant pipe used to circulate a Cybertronian cooling fluid throughout the Nemesis to prevent any overheating of systems. The fluid was very similar to liquid nitrogen but much more stable. Resting his finger against the pipe, Thundercracker allowed his metal to absorb the very cold temperature which he then transferred to Lana's tiny leg after a moment.

Lana cringed as the large metal digit rested on her sprain, delivering a shock of cold to her limb, jerking her out of her previously stunned state.

"Ow!" she whimpered squirming away from his touch.

The Decepticon frowned and nudged the pile of blankets closer to him to reapply his cool metal to the injury.

Once again Lana wriggled away from him, pushing herself off the pile of blankets. Thundercracker made a brief growling noise and repositioned her on the makeshift bed.

The blue Con pointed at her sternly, **"Stay still."**

Conceding that there was no escape anyway the young woman didn't try again.

Thundercracker shook his head crooning softly as he reapplied the cold to her sprain, **"Poor little Lana. All banged up. You're lucky nobody squished you." **

The young woman flinched.

"**Slag that Skywarp. And **_**just**_** when I was getting you tamed down**." he grumbled. "**But don't worry, you're safe now,"** he reassured.

Lana, though in pain, sat up shouting, "SAFE!?" she violently gestured at the Decepticon, "I was almost dropped, crushed, stepped on, shot, vaporized, and eaten! You call _that_ safe!?"

Thundercracker chuckled deeply at the absurd notion of Ravage eating a human, **"Ravage wouldn't have eaten you."**

The redhead's blue eyes flashed with fury, "YOU BASTARD! I was almost KILLED!"

"**True. Bet you're glad I saved you huh?"** he mentioned casually,** "How's about a thank you?"**

Lana forcefully flipped him off.

"**Hey. Now don't be a naughty pet."** the mech chided, gently pushing her arm down with a finger.

"I'M NOT YOUR PET!" Lana screamed angrily. "Don't you understand? I don't _want_ to be your pet!"

"**But you are."** Thundercracker stated patting her head, **"And you're a really good pet too."**

Lashing out at him, Lana spat acidly, "OH! _I HATE YOU_!"

He eyed her with slight annoyance before cupping both hands around the pile of blankets and lifting her up to place her in the enclosure. Lana glared daggers at the Con.

"**Rest."** he replied, **"I hope your mood improves by the next Orn."**

…

As the days passed, Lana began gradually limping around her enclosure. Though her body still ached, her bruises were turning a pale green signifying their dispersal. While she was meandering around her enclosure the door opened and in strode Thundercracker.

He sat in his work chair and leaned forward, **"How's my little pet today?"**

Sighing at the identification Lana continued to limp around. Lately she'd just ignored him, unwilling to speak to him since he never took her words very seriously anyway.

The Decepticon jet frowned a moment but then reached in, picked her up, and set her down on the surface of his work station.

"**I got something for ya." **he smiled.

The young female crossed her arms in front of her chest, unimpressed.

Then the big blue Con opened his hand to reveal a box. In orange ink the box read, "COLORADO PEACHES" Lana blinked in shock. She couldn't remember the last time she had fresh fruit, much less her favorite, peaches.

Thundercracker's finger flipped open the box lid,** "I analyzed these and I think they'll help boost your biological defenses. And I just thought my little pet deserved a treat." **

The young woman moved the corners of her mouth in a brief grin but she let it fall. She was torn again.

_God how she hated him—keeping her caged like some glorified hamster and then bringing her "treats" as if her imprisonment could all be washed away with a few gifts! _

_BUT…he didn't have to bring her anything AND he seemed to have __**some**__ concern for her well-being. And that's what divided her mind. He was trying anyway. _

Thundercracker tipped the box slightly and tapped a single peach into his palm. Very slowly he rested his open hand on the countertop. To Lana the peach looked like bait in a steel trap. She gave him a mistrustful grimace.

"**Come on. Come on."** he encouraged in that deep voice.

Lana eyed the peach covetously. Her pride tried its level best to destroy her craving for the fruit but her stomach won out. She cautiously limped over to his massive black hand, never taking her eyes off the Con in case he was playing some sort of cruel trick. The young woman gingerly sat on the edge of his palm, flinching.

Nothing happened.

Thundercracker seemed silently enthralled as his pet took the peach and bit into its juicy flesh. Juice dribbled down her chin as a small smile formed.

_It tasted like heaven._

Thundercracker watched her eat with fascination, **"Ah. So you like those?"**

She gave him a nod. His red optics stared at her expectantly.

She swallowed her first bite and uttered quietly, "Thank you…"

He petted her shoulder, **"Aww. That's a good little Lana."**

Lana took a vicious bite into her peach.

Thundercracker eventually extracted a small cube of Energon from a compartment in the wall. He took a sip of the pink liquid feeling the crackling power of the Energon flood his tanks and dispense into his energy core.

He then noticed Lana watching him in return. The Con smirked and held the cube near her. Curious, Lana watched the glowing liquid swirl.

"**Energon."** Thundercracker said simply.

Lana made a face.

The mech swirled the liquid energy around slowly in the cube and took another sip. His energy sensors analyzed the composition a moment and soon a link of data was retrieved.

"**Ah. This is from that power plant we raided a couple days ago."** he explained as if he were dating a glass of wine.

Lana blinked and immediately stopped her silence, "You raid power plants?"

He nodded, **"Power plants, nuclear reactors, oil refineries, metal foundries. I personally like the nuclear energy—lasts a little longer in the energy core than that other stuff."**

"So that's your job? Stealing our energy resources?" the young woman stated with reproach.

Thundercracker raised a questioning brow plate, **"No. I'm a Decepticon Seeker, one of the most elite ranks a Decepticon soldier can achieve. My **_**job**_** is to carry out the orders of our leader, Megatron."**

"And those orders are to steal energy sources?" Lana took another forceful bite of her peach.

The Con shrugged, **"Yeah, **_**sometimes**_**."**

"Nice." the young woman's voice oozed sarcasm.

Putting down his Energon with irritation, Thundercracker gave a challenging stare, **"Well what was YOUR job then if MINE is so despicable?"**

Lana paused in mid-chew. She looked up at him and swallowed what was in her mouth.

She blinked rapidly, "It's not important."

"**Tell me."** he commanded.

"No."

The Decepticon's eyes narrowed, **"You scorn **_**my**_** profession but you won't tell me yours?"**

Lana's stomach quivered. She didn't want to tell him but then again she didn't want to anger him. Though he hadn't harmed her yet, there was no question he COULD if provoked. The last thing she wanted to do was provoke a giant robot while she was sitting in his hand.

"I was…a dancer." she stammered.

Thundercracker's red optics narrowed in a clearly perplexed fashion, **"Your job was dancing?"**

Lana nodded.

With a lightening-quick scan, Thundercracker accessed exactly what "dancing" was and blinked, **"What kind of job is that? What purpose did you serve doing this 'dancing'?"** the blue jet Con inquired.

The redhead lowered her eyes, ashamed to admit it, "I danced…to entertain men," she looked away, her eyes wet, "Just forget it."

"**You're ashamed of your dancing?"** Thundercracker still appeared clueless.

Throwing back her head with frustration Lana cried, "I STRIPPED you hunk of metal! _Stripped!_ You know…dancing naked for money? THAT was my job! THERE! Are you happy now?"

His hand lifted her up, **"How did you get assigned that function?"**

"_Assigned?_" Lana laughed humorlessly as tears beaded on her eyelashes, "I needed money to pay for school…it was the quickest way."

Thundercracker just looked at her, **"Were you any good at this 'dancing'?"**

"What does THAT matter?"

"**I want to know."**

Lana wiped her eyes, "I don't know. It doesn't matter anymore."

For several long minutes Lana sat in his hand, rolling the peach pit in her fingers. It was a humiliating thing to confess and yet somewhat liberating. No one knew about her job; not her roommates and certainly not her family. For all they knew she was a waitress who worked the late shifts. Why she'd unloaded this secret on her robot master was unknown.

Thundercracker gently placed her down on the work table, **"Show me."**

The young woman's eyes got as wide as dinner plates, "Huh?"

"**Show me this dancing you did."** he made a motion with his finger.

"Oh _HELL_ no!" Lana rebuked his request.

He tipped his head, **"Why not?"**

"I am NOT going to dance for you!" she snapped, crossing her arms.

"**Why?"**

She sputtered, "It's…it's humiliating and inappropriate that's why! For God's sake, I can barely walk much less dance. So just forget it!"

The Con dipped his head briefly, **"Alright. But once you're all healed up you will show me this dancing."**

Lana looked exasperated, "NO! I'm not dancing!"

"**I'll give you one of these."** Thundercracker held up the peach box enticingly.

"Never! Not for a box of peaches not for one thousand boxes!" the redhead insisted.

Just then, there was a loud bang on the door, **"Hey TC! You there?"**

Thundercracker noticed Lana stiffen and back away with dread upon hearing Skywarp's voice. Her bad experience a few days ago had made her even more fearful of his careless friend.

"**What do you want Skywarp?"** he called back.

Taking it as an invitation, Skywarp entered the room, **"What's crackin' Cracker?"**

"**Huh?"**

Skywarp waved his hand, **"Never mind."** His optics went to Lana, **"Hey! She's walkin' again. Guess Ravage didn't break her after all."**

The blue Con wrapped his fingers around Lana, **"What do you want Warp?"**

"**Guard duty! We've got Energon guard duty in a few thousand Astro-seconds."**

Thundercracker made a face, **"No I don't. It was you and Dirge this shift."**

"**Yeah…about that…Motormaster kinda shoved Dirge's head into a console and he's out like a bad processor until Hook can fix him up."** Skywarp explained.

Groaning deep and low Thundercracker shuttered his optics, "**Oh COME ON Warp! I just got off duty. Can't you guard it by yourself?"**

"**Yeah…but it's SO boring!" **gray and purple Seeker whined.

Suddenly a klaxon blared throughout the base. Lana winced, plugging her ears to avoid going deaf while the two Seekers leaped to their feet.

Skywarp threw up his fists in glorification, **"WOO HOO! A fight! A fight! Come on TC!"**

Briskly, Thundercracker scooped Lana up and deposited her in her hammock, **"Gotta go, battle to fight."**

Lana moved to the transparent wall, "Battle? Where? With who?"

"**Be good."** the Con commanded, closing the closet door.

Lana only heard his footsteps leave and the huge door hiss shut behind him. She was alone again.


	7. Mini Menaces

A Pet Squishy

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 7: "Mini Menaces"**

_Three days later…_

Lana was confused. Though she had no grasp of time she knew Thundercracker had been gone for much longer than usual—more than a couple days she guessed. He still hadn't returned. Not that she needed anything. She had plenty of food and water to sustain her for a year, but he'd never been away so long.

Before he left in such a hurry, he mentioned he was going into battle. The big question was with whom? _Was he raiding more energy resources with the other Decepticons? If there was a battle was he destroyed or dead? Did robots really die or did they just shut off?_

Lana scolded herself. "Why should I care if that giant metal jerk comes back or not?"

Her more logical side interjected_, "Well if he DOESN'T come back you're going to be left in this stupid cage with no way to supply yourself if you run out."_

"_OR,"_ her 'worst-case-scenario' side said, _"That maniac Skywarp will come back and do God knows what to you!"_

"Good points," she stated aloud even though she was arguing with herself.

Though she cursed herself for even thinking it, she actually wanted Thundercracker to come back. It was, after all, in her best interest.

Then, she heard the door open outside. Almost anxious she paused, waiting. But instead of the shaking footfalls of her master she heard the murmuring of voices. They were oddly soft and not great and booming like most of the robots she'd encountered. She couldn't hear the exact words, but she knew there were at least two voices conversing in the room. A suddenly glimmer of hope tickled her heart. _Were they human? Had a rescue party somehow broke in and come for her?_ It was a huge stretch, but the voices didn't sound big enough to be Decepticons.

Urgently she banged on the transparent wall of her enclosure, shouting, "HEY! _HEY!_ I'M HERE! I'M HERE! HEY!"

She continued to raise a ruckus until she heard a bang of metal outside of the closet. Immediately she stopped to listen.

"**Yeah, I heard it over here."** one reedy male voice announced.

"**I don't hear nothin'."** a second voice stated.

The first voice hissed statically, **"Shh. It was comin' from in there!"**

"**You're so full of slag Rumble! I THOUGHT we were lookin' for Energon!"**

That made Lana back away quickly. _Slag... Energon_…humans didn't use those words. The closet door hissed and slowly slid open. Lana didn't wait for it to do so. She ran through her enclosure to her "pantry" where she knew there were plenty of boxes to hide behind or under. When she made it there she glanced over her shoulder. A smallish, human-sized, robot silhouette darkened the closet entry, a red visor darting around.

_More robots—little ones? _

"_Smooth one Lana. Why don't you just plaster a flashing sign over your cage?"_

Lana didn't care how small they were, she didn't want them to see her. Quickly she flipped over a large box and slipped underneath. The box had a small handle cutout so she peeked through it.

The lights suddenly brightened in the closet and at the far end she could just barely see the intruder. He was purple and silver and about human-sized but that was all she could make out.

The purple and silver mech appeared to be staring at her sleeping quarter, **"What in the Pit…HEY! Frenzy! Check this out!"**

In a few moments a similarly designed mech of red and black appeared, "**Did ya find some high grade?"**

"**No, but look at this." **the purple one pointed.

"**What is it?"**

"**They're **_**solid**_** Energon cubes."** the purple and silver one known as Rumble tapped the outer wall of her 'bedroom' thoughtfully,** "I thought we only used the energy-barrier cubes these days."**

The red and black one called Frenzy laughed, **"Yeah… they're probably just TC's old Energon glasses. What a closet overloader!"**

Both of the small bots laughed. Rumble began to walk the length of the enclosure, coming closer.

He seemed to frown with confusion as he stared inside each "room", **"What IS all that junk?"**

"**Looks like human stuff."** Frenzy mentioned, pointing to a stack of towels near her pool.

"**Human stuff?"** the purple and silver mech stared at his twin, **"Why would TC keep human stuff in his closet?"**

"**Closet fleshy lover?"** Frenzy snorted at his own pun.

Rumble seemed to roll the light in his visor in a very human expression of annoyance, **"Seriously though, why keep this junk? It's not even interesting. Now that taser we swiped off that police human…"**

The red and black bot hit his brother's shoulder with remembrance, **"YEAH! I loved that thing."**

"**Remember we rigged it to shock every few seconds and then we stuck it to Blitzwing's back when he wasn't looking?" **Rumble sniggered.

Frenzy nodded, **"Oh yeah. He jumped every few seconds and got all fritzed wondering who was shocking him. That was so funny!"**

Again the two mech's laughed and kept coming closer until at last they arrived at her pantry compartment. Lana could clearly see them now. Both were small but probably still pushing seven to eight feet in height, which made them just about the same height as her enclosure. They were of identical construction with only their color defining their difference. Their New York "street punk" voices even sounded alike. Thundercracker had the same odd accent. Lana vaguely remembered hearing those voices the day she was nearly killed by Skywarp's prank, but she never realized there were "human-sized" robots as well.

"**Hey! Look at all that human fuel."** Frenzy pointed.

Rumble suddenly smirked, **"Where there's human fuel, there's got to be humans."**

Head bobbing, Frenzy appeared to be looking for her, **"I don't see any." **

The purple and silver Con looked up and noticed the lip of the enclosure lid. He gave a pleased smile and suddenly his arms folded over upon themselves until a bulky pair of large hammer-like pistons erected from his arms.

Lana gaped openly at the transformation. To date she'd never seen any of the Cons do such a remarkable thing, not even Thundercracker. She knew her master had jet parts but she'd never actually witnessed a transformation.

Rumble suddenly jumped up, swung his pile-drivers, and rammed the edge of the lid sending it flying off and onto the floor. Lana cringed when he effortlessly landed on the rim of the now open compartment, reforming his pile-drivers into arms.

"**Well let's have a look-see."** he stated, jumping down into the 'pantry' and smashing several boxes of food.

Frenzy leaped up and in as well, smashing more of her food stores, **"You really think TC's got a human?"**

"**Why would he keep all this human fuel if he didn't have one, numb nodes?"** Rumble insulted his twin.

The red and black mech shoved his partner's shoulder, **"Hey! Who you callin' numb nodes?"**

"**YOU! Numb nodes!"** Rumble hit him back.

In an instant the miniature mechs lockedarms and began shoving each other around the pantry, leaving a wake of crushed destruction.

"_That's my food you assholes!"_ Lana hissed to herself.

Frenzy suddenly snatched a loose box of cereal and smashed it over Rumble's head. Cheerios went everywhere.

"**ARG! It's in my joints!"** Rumble yelled, flicking his arms to rid himself of the oat rings.

Crunching loudly on the spilled cereal, the two Cons tackled each other, hitting the wall again. Frenzy snagged a flat of sports drinks, and swung it bashing his brother in the head with an explosion of red liquid.

The purple and silver drone screamed, throwing his hands to his optics, **"AAAA! IT'S EATING MY ARMOR! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!"**

Frenzy stopped momentarily, **"Huh?"**

Seizing the opportunity Rumble punched his brother in the face, sending him flying back into a flat of flour bags. Flour exploded in the air, blanketing everything in a dusty white haze. Frenzy was now muted gray and faded red. He made a sputtering noise, expelling flour from what looked like air vents on the sides of his face and across his chest. Rumble bent over laughing at his twin's "ghostly" appearance. Frenzy snarled and charged his brother again.

The pair tussled until they shoved each other into the vicinity of Lana's box. Without much warning, Rumble seized up the box and slammed it down on Frenzy's head, not even realizing he'd found the human they'd been looking for all along. Lana froze, completely exposed.

Violently throwing bits of the broken cardboard box off of him Frenzy noticed her. **"Hey! There it is!"**

"_**Oh**_** no! You're not going to get me with that!"** Rumble growled, balling his fists for another attack.

Frenzy pointed, **"NO! Seriously, bro! Look!"**

Rumble turned his head minutely, still wary of a fake-out by his twin. But when he saw Lana he forgot all about their altercation.

"**HEY! I was right! There was a squishy in here."** he crowed proudly.

Lana dropped her head, "Oh shit."

Both of the miniature Cons stood on either side of her, staring down at her.

"**Do you think it's male or female?"** Frenzy asked.

Before Lana could grow indignant, Rumble hissed, **"Don't be stupid Frenzy."**

He forcefully grabbed Lana by the arm to make her stand. Then he audaciously squeezed her left breast. Lana's jaw dropped.

"**See, their femmes got these lumps of fat on their chassis."** he explained. **"And…"** he reached for her crotch.

Lana viciously slapped his hand away, "HANDS OFF!"

Rumble's visor flashed and Frenzy just laughed, **"Yeah that's a femme all right. All femmes hit you, Rumble!"**

"**Which is more than can be said about you—femmes won't even TOUCH you."** Rumble retorted.

Wrenching her arm and kicking, Lana tried to free herself from Rumble's iron grip.

"**Aww, look. It's trying to get away."** the purple and silver mech laughed mockingly, picking her up underneath her armpits and holding her in front of him, **"What's the matter fleshy? Don'tcha wanna play?"**

Lana clenched her teeth and finally held still. Fighting robots was always a wasted effort.

"Bite me." she snapped.

The two brothers shared a confused look.

"**She wants you to bite her."** Frenzy hissed under his vocalizer, **"Isn't that a human mating ritual?"**

Rumble suddenly pitched the girl toward his brother who caught her, **"ARG! No way!"**

Frenzy laughed dangling Lana out in front of him and moved toward his brother. His voice rose to a higher falsetto, _**"Ooo, Rumble! I've got metal fever! Ooo! Make me a REAL femme, Rumble!"**_

Disgusted, Rumble backed away, **"Shut up scrap head! That's just gross!"**

Utterly humiliated, Lana dropped her head and then growled, "Are you DONE?"

The two stopped momentarily.

"HONESTLY! Don't you _machines_ have anything BETTER to do?" her voice rose with frustration.

They paused until Rumble said, **"The fleshy is right."**

Frenzy nodded, **"Yeah. Let's hit the wash station, **_**then**_** we'll play with her."**

The flour-covered mech abruptly slung Lana over his boxy shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"_No!_ Put me down you insane tin can!" Lana shouted, struggling to get down.

Frenzy harshly squeezed her arm, **"Keep quiet fleshy. You're comin' with us."**

"**Yeah, we've got all kinds of pranks we can use you for."** Rumble agreed.

Panic suddenly seized Lana's lungs, "No! NO! NO! PUT ME DOWN! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The two mechs easily jumped out of the enclosure and exited the "closet door". Then they made the impossible leap to the floor from the counter. Lana grunted from the impact and began kicking and bucking, but Frenzy wouldn't let go.

"**Stop squirming!"** he growled as they marched for the big door.

"I said, _PUT ME DOWN!"_ Lana screamed.

Somehow her knee jerked up and struck Frenzy in the side of the head, disrupting his equilibrium sensors for the briefest instant. The small red and black mech jerked spasmodically, dropping Lana next to him. He stumbled briefly but righted his sensors with a quick shake of his head.

"**So! You wanna play ROUGH huh?"** Frenzy inquired, reforming his arms into a heavy set of pile drivers.

Lana pushed herself with her hands, trying to gain enough momentum to stand and run from the two mini menaces when suddenly a gust of air pressure rustled her clothes and hair. She flinched when two immense black feet settled on either side of her. Unforeseen relief flooded Lana's mind as she gazed way up at Thundercracker looming above her. She glanced at the two little Decepticons who had stopped their pursuit of her and were focused on the much larger mech. Unabashedly, Lana got up and ran behind the huge thruster that made up her master's heel for protection.

However, the towering blue jet Con didn't even see her as he was focused on the two intruders. Rumble and Frenzy froze, uneasy smiles forming on their faces.

"_**Heeey**_** T.C! We thought you were in the med bay getting repair work."** Rumble greeted awkwardly.

"_**WHAT **_**are you two doing in my quarters?"** Thundercracker boomed, earning his namesake.

The two brothers raised their shoulders indignantly, **"What are YOU doing with a human Thundercracker?"**

"**Yeah!"** Frenzy chimed in changing his pile drives back into arms.

Thundercracker balled his fists stealing a glance at the opened closet door where he kept his pet. They'd found her. Great…Rumble and Frenzy were the biggest loud mouths on the ship. He was fragged to Cybertron and back unless he outmaneuvered them.

"**That's none of your fraggin' business you glitches! You're trespassing in my personal quarters!"**

"**YOU'RE hiding contraband!"** Frenzy accused.

"**What I**__**keep in my quarters is MY business."** the jet Con rasped.

Rumble crossed his arms grinning cockily, **"I'll bet Megatron would make it his business."**

There was a heavy pause until Thundercracker grated, **"Fine. I'm keeping a human. So what?"**

"**So we want to play with it."** the brothers demanded.

"**Forget it! You two would kill her." **Thundercracker had a sickening feeling that they already had.

Rumble and Frenzy shared a smug look, **"I'll bet if **_**Megatron**_** found out he'd kill her quicker than we would."**

Finding himself trapped the blue Seeker tried to think and suddenly unloaded his ultimate ammunition: blackmail.

"**Yeah? You two go ahead and tell and I'll show Megatron who REALLY stole his stash of Iaconian High Grade."**

The drone brothers glanced at each other uneasily and Rumble lied, **"We don't know nothin' about that." **

Thundercracker nodded matter-of-factly,** "AND I'll tell him WHO was responsible for fraggin' that fuel raid last week."**

"**Why would Megatron believe you?"** Rumble shouted, clearly perturbed.

Thundercracker smiled darkly, **"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to record the WHOLE thing."**

"**You're bluffin! You've got nothin' on us!"** Rumble insisted.

"**Oh no?"** Thundercracker raised a brow plate.

He brought up a holographic image of the two drones carrying off several cubes of Energon and then another image of them fighting. The fight soon resulted in a massive landslide which fell on Megatron just as he was delivering a threat to Optimus Prime. Rumble and Frenzy cursed quietly.

Thundercracker ceased the images and added, **"Oh…and didn't you guys let Starscream take the blame for both of those incidents? I'll bet he'd LOVE to watch this little file."**

The Cassetticons clenched their metal jaws, **"This is blackmail!"**

"**You **_**bet**_** it is you little fraggers. So keep your traps shut and this file will stay locked in my mainframe. Talk to ANYONE and this file goes straight to Megatron."**

Rumble and Frenzy snarled resentfully, **"You son of a glitch"**

Thundercracker pointed forcefully, **"Now get out!"**

Pissed off but pacified, the drones marched out and the door hissed shut. Thundercracker darkened his crimson optics a moment and then slowly moved toward the opened closet, opening the door all the way.

…

When Thundercracker's foot moved away, Lana suddenly realized he hadn't seen her at all.

"_Why didn't you run out the door while he was distracted?" _her mind screamed angrily. _"Because those two little monsters would have seen you and "played" with you,"_ her logical side interjected.

Instinct prompted Lana to move as close to the wall as she could to avoid getting stepped on. She watched as Thundercracker pulled out her entire enclosure and began scanning the compartments.

"**Lana?"** he called tapping the walls, **"Lana?"**

But, she wasn't there. Worry shifted the metal plates of his face when he noted the trashed state of her "fuel" room. Disconnecting it from the other sections he lifted it up and stared into it from every angle. He took in a sudden gust of air when he saw thick red smears and droplets coating the cage floor. Not realizing it was only red sports drink mixing with the spilt flour, he grimly set the cube on the counter. Lana jumped when he angrily slammed his fist into the wall, denting it. His deep low growl slowly faded as he sat heavily in his work chair, head down, one arm resting over the edges of his knee, and the other hand rested on his forehead.

At first, Lana wasn't sure what to make of his reaction until realization made the back of her throat tighten. The giant mech seemed to think she was dead and he actually looked upset about it. It was the oddest sight to Lana. She cautiously took a step away from the wall and began to walk up to him.

"_What the HELL do you think you're doing?"_ her mind hissed incredulously, _"He thinks you're dead! Why don't you hide and make your escape?"_

Lana didn't know how to answer her mind, honestly. It didn't make a lot of sense to her either. Perhaps her conscience, which typically didn't get a lot of attention, was pushing her. She honestly…_dare she think it_…felt bad for him. Her mind still protested though her body marched onward. After a couple minutes she was right in front of him staring up at him.

"Thundercracker?" she said quietly.

His head immediately perked up and his red optics locked on her tiny form.

In mere seconds his hand snatched her up, **"Lana!"**

His optics passed over her as he inspected his pet for wounds. When he found none, he stared at the "pantry" section of her enclosure and gave it a thorough scan. It wasn't her bio-fluid after all…he just overreacted.

The big jet Con smiled with relief which eased Lana.

That is, until he flashed his eyes with anger, **"Why didn't you come when I called you?"**

Fear welled up in Lana's chest, "I…I…"

His grip tightened ever so slightly, **"You're **_**supposed**_** to come when I call you!"**

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry." Lana pleaded.

He slammed his other fist into the metal counter top, **"Don't you **_**EVER**_** worry me like that!"**

"WH—What?"

The Con paused as if he'd not intended to say that. His anger slowly dissipated as did his grip and he gently began to stroke her back.

"**My poor little Lana. Your little chest-pump his beating 153 bpm,"** he stated soothingly, continuing to pet her. **"Did those fraggers hurt you?"**

Lana shook her head, inwardly relieved he wasn't mad after all, just concerned.

He tipped his head and opened his hand so she was merely sitting in his palm, **"Did you miss your Master?"**

The redhead narrowed her eyes at his demeaning speech but admitted, "I…I DID wonder if you were coming back"

A smile formed on his alien face, **"Aww. Now ain't that sweet? My little pet missed me."**

Lana rolled her eyes back. Then she noticed several burn marks and rips in Thundercracker's metal skin.

"What happened to _you_?" she pointed at a particularly nasty hole near his cockpit chest.

He smirked, **"Oh, just some battle wounds. They'll repair themselves in a few days."**

Lana scrunched her forehead, "You can repair yourself automatically?"

"**Sure. How else would I stay in tip-top condition?"** he tapped his chest.

She shrugged, "Go to the robot repair shop?"

A low deep rumble that sounded somewhat like a laugh followed her statement, **"That's only for really bad damage. I didn't get hurt too bad this time."**

"Who were you fighting?" the redhead inquired, wondering if humans had actually been able to inflict damages like that on Thundercracker.

He smiled patiently and patted her head, **"So many questions."**

After a few minutes of silence Lana knew he had no intention of answering her query so she asked another that was bothering her, "What did they mean by 'contraband'?"

"**Oh, don't let those two worry you. I've got enough blackmail to keep them quiet for centuries."** he said in a placating manner.

"You're not supposed to HAVE me are you?" Lana accused.

"**I **_**SAID**_**…"** his voice rose but fell, **"don't let it worry you."**

Though she didn't want to drop it, Lana did to avoid angering him again. It was a surreal moment, robot master relaxing in his chair stroking his human pet in silence—both wondering in secret just how long this would last.


	8. Combat Maneuvers

A Pet Squishy

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 8: "Combat Maneuvers"**

A couple days after the incident with Rumble and Frenzy, the mediocre drone of boredom set in again for Lana. Not that she _wanted_ that kind of excitement ever again, but she certainly didn't care for the monotony of walking along the walls of her enclosure wishing for something meaningful to do.

There were times Lana questioned her sanity. Feeling pity for Thundercracker when he thought she was dead instead of trying to escape was at the forefront of her doubts. Was this captivity with no real mental stimulation whittling away her sanity? How long would it be before she went totally insane or at the very least fall into a deep state of depression? She hadn't seen another human for so long. Sure, Thundercracker talked to her and gave her "affection"; which was probably the only thing keeping her mind afloat as it was; but it wasn't the same.

Lana rested her forehead against the transparent wall of her bedroom, feeling like a goldfish that was actually aware it was swimming in a circle its whole life. The dark purple walls were shrinking. Even though the room was beyond huge the walls felt closer everyday.

She needed to do something! ANYTHING—anything to save her mind from the quagmire of inactivity.

It was odd but she started to think of music. Songs that were mere ghost-tunes bouncing around her skull. Being a former stripper she was exposed to a whole gauntlet of beats and tunes. Each one had their own specific routine. She tried hard to remember one. After a moment or two a particular beat began vibrating her vocal chords. She hummed it, breathing life into the stale memory. Then her muscles remembered.

Her hips began to rock in time with the music in her head. She strutted away from the wall, hips swaying and then popping with the beat. Lana swiveled her feet, gliding across the floor. She kicked up, spinning in a ballerina twirl until she gracefully ended with a pointed toe. Throwing her red hair she leaned over, twisting her torso and moving her arms like waves. She leaped, she twirled, she shook, she flaunted. Finally she thrust her hips, turned once, and ended up doing the splits on the floor. The redhead winced, realizing she probably should've stretched before doing all that…AND checked to make sure no one was watching.

Lana gasped upon seeing Thundercracker's large face peering it at her through the transparent wall. As if bitten, Lana pulled out of her splits and rose quickly, smoothing down her tussled hair.

"**What was that?"** Thundercracker cocked his head. **"Was **_**that**_** 'dancing'?"**

"How long have you BEEN there?" Lana asked, clearly perturbed.

He spun his finger,** "Do that again! I like it."**

Lana showed her back to him, "NO. You weren't supposed to see that!"

"**Why not? You're my pet. I can look at you whenever I want to."** he declared.

The young woman clenched her jaw.

Thundercracker persisted, **"I never realized humans could move like that. It was so…graceful. Do it again!"**

"You want to watch dancing?" Lana looked at him.

He nodded.

"Watch it on YouTube then." she replied snappishly.

Thundercracker slit his optics, **"I want to see you dance."**

"Oh, _YOU_ want! _YOU WANT!_ Well _I_ want out of this stupid cage! _I_ want to see the sun again! _I_ want to go home!" the young woman shouted with frustration.

The Decepticon pulled his head back a bit. His red optics seemed to jostle between anger at her disobedience and an idea crackling in his CPU. He suddenly understood and with a smirk he reached in and brought her out.

"**I know what you need."** he announced.

Before Lana could react the cockpit glass on his chest hissed open and he stuffed her inside. Shocked, the redhead banged on the glass when it clicked shut over her.

"HEY! What are you doing? Let me out of here!" she shouted.

Thundercracker chuckled; an odd deep rumble that vibrated the seat, **"That tickles."**

Lana stopped banging and stared around uneasily. It was one thing to be around giant robots, but to be _inside_ one was a whole other experience. She didn't want to touch anything, but she had no choice. She stared out of the vertical hood, bracing her feet against the floor so she didn't slam into it. The height from the floor was staggering, probably over twenty-five feet. She distinctly recalled a ride at the State Fair that started out this way…she threw up afterwards.

Just then the cockpit glass tinted like a pair of Transitions lenses, shielding Lana from any outside viewers. Lana squeaked when her master began to move, walking who knows where.

She called out, "Hey! Where are we going? What are you doing?"

"**You'll see."**

"That shit head Skywarp said the _same_ thing to me and I didn't LIKE what I got to see!" the young woman reminded him.

"**I'm not Skywarp."** he stated simply. **"Just keep quiet until I tell you."**

Lana grumbled, still bracing her body with each swaying step. Several minutes passed by and all at once all motion stopped. Then Lana felt a rising sensation accompanied by a loud groaning of metal and hydraulics.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

Thundercracker didn't answer her. Suddenly, Lana was thrown back into the seat as the blue mech rushed forward, feet pounding in a run.

_What the HELL was he running FOR? _

The cockpit glass abruptly cleared and Lana saw a massive tunnel with the clearest blue sky at the other end. Lana nearly screamed aloud when the cockpit began to rearrange itself and the sound of plates shifting and circuits crackling filled her ears. Thundercracker's massive arms and shoulders slid by the cockpit and disappeared. Lana turned around with confusion and suddenly realized her master was no longer a robot, but a fighter jet. She gaped openly, remembering how Rumble had transformed his arms into pile-drivers. Thundercracker could transform his body into a jet!

Then the deafening boom of the jet engine roared to life, sending more vibrations through Thundercracker's metal. Lana's back slammed into the cushioned seat as the square of blue sky at the end of the tunnel rocketed closer. The young woman grit her teeth, feeling her eyeballs high-five the back of her skull.

"OH…MY…GOD!" she squealed when they suddenly blasted out of the tunnel like a new soul sent straight to heaven.

Blue sky as blue as Thundercracker's metal enveloped them. Lana craned her neck to see where they'd come from and was stunned. A huge purple spire of metal was jutting straight out of the ocean and slowly descending back into the depths.

"What is that?" Lana asked pointing to the sinking violet tower.

The targeting screen in front of her lit up with each syllable of Thundercracker's voice, **"That's the launching bay of the **_**Nemesis**_**."**

"_Nemesis_?" she asked.

"**Ah that's right. You've never seen it from the outside before. The **_**Nemesis**_** is our home, our ship."** he explained.

_She had been underwater this whole time?_ A sinking feeling hit her stomach. There was no way she could've escaped alive even IF she found a way out. As she mentally bemoaned the truth, she'd almost forgotten they were airborne, flying through the sky. Wisps of cloud caressed the huge wings on either side of her.

"We're flying." she stated dumbly, still not believing it. "You can fly."

"**Of course I can. I'm a Seeker."** he bragged. **"Haven't you ever flown before?"**

"No. I've never been able to afford plane tickets." Lana admitted, staring around in wonderment.

Thundercracker made an incredulous noise, **"How can you stand it?"**

"Stand what?"

"**Being flightless."**

Lana shook her head, "I make do without it."

The big blue jet veered to the right of a cloud bank, **"So what do you think?"** her master's voice sounded excited.

Lana let herself smile, "It's beautiful up here. I never thought the sky could be so blue."

The sun flashed through the cockpit and Lana closed her eyes, feeling its warmth and light. Normally with her light complexion she avoided the sun, but today it felt like a warm hug she hadn't felt in ages.

"**Aww…is my little pet happy?"** Thundercracker observed.

Shutting her eyes tightly with irritation, Lana sighed, "Will you STOP demeaning me?"

"**Huh?"**

"Little pet _this_…poor little Lana _that_…it's degrading! Can't you just call me Lana, please?" she pleaded.

"**Yes. But you ARE my little pet." **

Lana groaned, "I _get it,_ ok? I don't have to be reminded everyday."

Thundercracker made a doubtful grunt, **"I believe you DO need reminded."**

Quite suddenly he rolled right in a tight barrel roll which made Lana brace herself and scream.

"DON'T DO THAT!" she shouted under heavy breath.

"**What? THIS?"** Thundercracker chuckled playfully rolling over and diving nose first toward the water below.

Lana screamed, "AHHHHH! STOP THAT!"

Somehow it struck her that fighter pilots underwent extensive training and had to have cast-iron stomachs to withstand such aerial maneuvers. She got sick on amusement park rides. Yet, she wasn't feeling that sick yet. Perhaps her fear was overshadowing the urge to hurl.

The jet righted itself at the last moment and casually cruised onward above the ocean waters.

"Don't do that again!" Lana rasped, clenching her chest.

The screen flashed with the Con's laughter, **"Poor little Lana."**

Lana sat back in defeat and after a moment asked, "SO why are you taking me on this flight of one thousand terrors?"

"**You said you wanted to get out and see the sun,"** he explained, **"I get those urges too just to stretch my wings and feel the wind in my vents."**

"So you're going to take me home too?" Lana asked with hope, though she knew very well it wasn't.

The screen blipped, **"Home? You want to go back to the **_**Nemesis**_** already?"**

"No. MY home. My REAL home out there." she pointed.

"**Of course not. Your home is with me."** the Con insisted.

Before she could make a comment, quite suddenly the cockpit darkened again. From outside Lana froze upon hearing a very familiar loud, rasping voice.

"**Thundercracker!"**

The blue Con's surprise vibrated through the cockpit, **"Starscream? What are YOU doing out here?"**

"**We are conducting Aerial Combat Maneuvers! WHY haven't YOU reported in? I ORDERED you back here a megacycle ago!"** Starscream screeched indignantly.

"**Huh? Now? Why now?"** Thundercracker sounded confused.

Starscream's voice rose again, **"Don't argue with ME! If I say we're going to have Aerial Combat Maneuvers then we ARE!"**

The blue Con relented,** "All right! All right! Let me just return to the Nemesis…"**

Forcefully Starscream slammed his wing down on Thundercracker's tail fin, **"I said NOW! MOVE IT!"**

"**Yes sir."**

Lana blinked. _Aerial Combat Maneuvers? NOW?_

"What does he _mean_ Combat Maneuvers?" Lana asked in a fearful whisper.

It didn't take a psychic to feel the dread emanating from the young woman's voice. Thundercracker felt it. He knew how wild and violent an Aerial Combat Maneuver session could be. So much twisting, diving at break-neck speed, rolling, banking, and transforming—Lana would never survive even if he strapped her in. He could maintain oxygen flow and keep her warm, but the G forces were out of his power. There were times he'd dive so fast during a maneuver he though his armor would rip right off. A mere human couldn't withstand such forces. He had to drop Lana off somewhere without Starscream noticing.

Lana's voice rose, "What's going on?"

The straps of the jet seat automatically snaked across her chest and under her legs, clicking together securely.

"**Just hang on. This might get a little rough."** he warned.

The air caught in Lana's chest escaped rapidly. She didn't like where this was going.

Another jet engine roared and the familiar black and violet form of Skywarp swooped down next to Thundercracker.

"**HEY! TC! You ready to go?"** Skywarp's voice called jovially.

"**Not really."** he muttered.

Skywarp sidled in beside his comrade, **"What's the matter TC? I thought you liked Combat Maneuvers."**

"**I've got **_**her**_** with me."** Thundercracker hissed under his vocalizer.

"**Huh? Who?" **

"**Lana."**

Skywarp snorted, **"You've got your squishy with you? During a Combat Maneuver?"**

"**I didn't know we were doing Combat Maneuvers!"** Thundercracker whispered angrily.

"**You know she might turn to squishy jelly under all those G forces? That would be gross to clean up."** the black and purple Seeker mentioned with no amount of tact. **"You'd better eject her."**

"**We're too high. That would kill her."** Thundercracker protested, **"I need to drop her off somewhere so that doesn't happen."**

"**FALL INTO FORMATION!"** Starscream shouted irritably.

Skywarp groaned at his friend, **"Oh you sentimental son of a…All right. When we start the maneuver I'll distract Screamer. Then you can dump her out and pick her up later."**

Dipping his cone nose in agreement, Thundercracker fell back to await Starscream's next order.

"**Execute Formation Theta Gamma 1!"** Starscream shouted.

Skywarp and Thundercracker broke away, banking hard in either direction.

Lana braced her hand against the console, "Don't kill me!"

"**I'm not. Just hang on."** the blue jet's deep voice promised.

Thundercracker dove straight down but not as fast as the maneuver required. He spun as he descended.

"_OOOOH!_ I'm gonna DIE!" Lana screamed.

Despite his pet's fretting, Thundercracker actively scanned the ocean for some kind of protruding land mass—a sand bar, a jetty, anything. Several miles away he spotted something. His scanners enhanced the image. It was a faded rubber life boat set adrift. Some boat must've lost it leaving it to the whims of the sea. It was perfect!

Veering off course, Thundercracker blasted his thrusters and zoomed for it.

"**Thundercracker! What are you doing?! I said Formation Theta Gamma 1!"** Starscream shouted angrily from above.

Taking his cue, Skywarp teleported and purposely swerved into Starscream's side.

"**Whoops! Sorry Screamer! I thought you said Theta Gamma 2!"** he feigned ignorance.

"**YOU CLUMSY CLUNKER!"** the Air Commander screeched turning to face his wingman.

With Starscream ranting and raving at Skywarp, Thundercracker sped toward the life raft. When he arrived he hovered vertically, nose down to the raft as he flipped open his cockpit.

"**Jump!" **he urged his pet.

"WHAT? Are you crazy?" Lana shouted, desperate not to fall out.

Thundercracker impatiently bucked forward, flipping her out and into the raft below, **"I'll be back! Don't worry."**

The huge blue jet spun in a circle and with a deafening blast roared up into the sky. Lana fell back against the powerful sound, wondering what had just happened.

…

Starscream was still giving Skywarp the ninth degree about how much of an idiot and disgrace he was to the Seeker Elite when Thundercracker got back. The white and red jet whirled around.

"**And YOU! WHAT is YOUR malfunction?! I SAID…"** he snarled.

"**Theta Gamma 2."** Thundercracker lied to back Skywarp.

An arc of electricity crackled over Starscream's cockpit, visually displaying his exasperation, **"THETA GAMMA 1! THETA GAMMA 1! ARE YOU TWO GLITCHED IN THE AUDIOS?"**

"**All right, Screamer! All right! Don't implode your thrusters. We'll get it right this time."** Skywarp surrendered.

"**You'd better! UGG! Why did I get stuck with two incompetent fools?"**

If jets could wink, Thundercracker and Skywarp would have shared one.

….

_Several miles away…_

Lana scanned the ocean only to find no land in sight. Above she could hear the distant roar of the jet engines, knowing her master and the others weren't too far away. It was an odd thing. Thundercracker had willingly disobeyed an order from a superior just to keep her out of harm's way. He'd expressed this kind of concern for her well-being before but in this instance it was more pronounced. He _could_ have just taken her along, but he let her out.

_Why?_ She was just his "pet"! He demeaned her and treated her as an inferior life-form and yet he seemed to value her. _Why was she so important to him?_ She didn't DO anything for him other than talk and let him pet her. She'd done everything in her power to resist him and STILL he valued her.

Lana sat thinking for about a half hour when suddenly she heard a horn. Her head flew up and cruising by in the distance was a huge white and red ship with _Coast Guard_ plastered on the side.

Her heart fluttered as she blinked.

_That ship isn't there. You're just imagining things._ _You've been the sun too long._

Experimentally she stood up and waved her arms. The ship blew its klaxon and dozens of Coast Guard personnel scurried down the massive ship's deck. Lana realized it wasn't a hallucination. She laughed, waving her arms like a wild woman.

"HERE! I'M HERE! HEY! HEY!" she screamed at the top of her voice.

The Coast Guard ship pointed for her and after several long minutes of scurrying about the personnel lowered a ladder with a rescue man descending it.

With a dark pair of shades and a reassuring face the man handed her a life vest, "Put that on!"

Overjoyed Lana quickly donned the vest.

"All right! Are you all right ma'am? Can you climb up?" he asked, holding out a hand.

Lana seized his hand, never so glad to feel the warmth human skin, "Yes! Thank you! Thank you!"

He pulled her up so she could go up in front of him, "Just take your time ma'am and remain calm."

Lana didn't even hear him as she eagerly climbed the ladder. When they finally made it to the rail several hands reached over and hauled her up. A swarm of medical personnel immediately whisked her inside, examining her as they went.

The young redhead didn't even care. She just sighed, a smile spreading over her face.

_**A/N: Just so ya'll know…I **__**just **__**noticed the Movies section of Fan Fiction has FINALLY added the "Transformers Movie" into its ranks. So I've moved "Tinman" and "Boys, Meet my Truck" to that section just in case you've panicked. **_

_**Don't get too excited though…I haven't updated "Truck"…kinda having a writer's block with how I want the meeting of Paul and Ironhide to go. I know how it should end and what follows the meeting but arranging it in a believable way is throwing a monkey wrench in my gears. **_

_**However, I've also started a risqué oneshot featuring Animated Starscream in light of reading Litahatchee's fics…she writes some great cyber-erotic fiction that's refreshingly **__**not**__** mech on mech. I'll post it as soon as I'm done, though my younger readers won't be able to see it in the **__**MATURE **__**section.**_

_**Ok, something new. I don't usually address my reader's reviews, but I think I SHOULD since you guys are the WHOLE reason I write in the first place. (I'm such a review addict!) So from THIS moment onward if I see some questions that DON'T ask how the story ends ;) I'll answer them. So fire away!**_

_**And btw, LOVED all the reviews from my last chapter! I particularly enjoyed the insightful reviews of **__**Taipan Kiryu**__**, **__**Dairokkan**__**, **__**P.A.W .07**__**, and **__**Jumana**__**. You guys had some great things to say! And to ALL my readers I'm SO happy you're enjoying "Squishy" And to **__**padawanjinx**__**, yep TC pets Lana because it relaxes him ;)**_


	9. MINE!

A Pet Squishy

_**A/N: Ok! As promised, some answers to my readers who had questions!**_

_**Taipan Kiryu:**__** Ah…my most favorite of Transformer plot devices "Stockholm Syndrome"! You are correct indeed! I try my best to keep my characters AWAY from Mary Sue land. Oh…and I'm next in line for TC's pet auditions. ;) Maybe he'd consider keeping a pair? Hee! Hee! I think life might be much simpler, if not more dangerous, as a Con pet. No bills, no paperwork, no job worries…just watching out for other Cons.**_

_**pikachu13:**__** Nah. TC sees Lana's dancing like you'd see your cat pouncing on a toy or your hamster running in his ball: pure pet entertainment! There's no sexual attraction...though it is tempting to think about ;) Oh and you'll find out what happens in this chapter!**_

_**Dairokkan:**__** I'm so glad I can keep you guessing and entertained! All shall be revealed in THIS chapter. And I don't intend to bring any Autobots into this story. This shall strictly be Cons and pet only.**_

_**Alaskan Olive:**__** Wow! Thank you! I'm glad I kept you so riveted! **_

_**Reviewer Omega:**__** Oh…you'll see! [Evil laugh]**_

_**SpartanCommander:**__** Well certain types of Coast Guard ships are designed to venture farther out to sea. So I've chosen one of those to find her. And yeah, if they got TOO close to the Con's base there would be one less Coast Guard ship on the radar but they're not that close to it. Keep in mind TC and his Seeker's are jets and can travel great distances in a short span of time so I've set them a good distance from the Con base. And I'm not even going to touch the whole "government trying to catch a Con" route. (Though they'd be screwed if they tried!) This is more about relationships between pet and master. You sure seem to know a lot about the TF universe! I on the other hand only have limited knowledge and don't intend to delve into any other venues of the genre. I find the more characters you throw into a story the more confusing it gets and I DON'T want confusion. Thanks for your insights!**_

_**Elita One:**__** Man…that would be a LET DOWN! **_

_**THE REST OF YOU who want to know TC's reaction**__**: ALL SHALL BE REVEALED IN THIS CHAPTER! YAY!**_

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 9: "MINE!"**

_A few hours later…_

Because of their earlier "bungling" Starscream extended the combat maneuvers in the hopes of teaching his subordinates a lesson about listening to his orders. They were all the best fliers in the Decepticon ranks but Starscream was by far the superior aerial combatant and he demanded perfection. After all, it's what prompted Megatron to name him his Second in Command—that and Megatron believed in the old adage of, "Keep your allies close, but your enemies closer".

At last, once he was satisfied, Starscream ordered them back to the Nemesis. However, Thundercracker insisted he continue flying some more.

Surprisingly the Air Commander waved him off, **"Very well. You need the extra training anyway."**

"**Yeah…" **Thundercracker grudgingly admitted before speeding off.

He needed to find Lana and he hadn't intended to be away for so long. Calculating the approximate range the life raft could drift given the wind speed and ocean currents Thundercracker charted a course. Very soon he spotted the tiny faded red raft bobbing in the waves. He transformed into his robot mode, swooped low, and scooped the whole raft up in both hands as he flew over.

"**I'm back…Lana?"** his automatic smile dissipated when he noticed the raft was empty.

He flipped the small rubber craft over searching it from every angle. No Lana.

"**Lana? Lana!"** he called, pulling himself into an upright stopping position.

The blue Seeker spun around, scanning the waters. _**Had she fallen out? Where did she go?**_

"**LANA!**" he bellowed, his tremendous voice echoing, **"WHERE ARE YOU?"**

Making frantic circles around the entire area, Thundercracker searched for his lost pet. He activated his thrusters and flew high into the sky to widen his search. The Seeker turned slowly, optics darting across the seemingly infinite expanse of water. He couldn't see anything.

The blue Con clenched his fingers into the life raft, bending it in half. _**What happened to his pet? Where was she?**_ _**He'd only left her for a few hours!**_

A horrible thought asserted itself in his processor. _**Did…did she jump out of the boat on purpose? Did she purposely terminate herself?**_

Something happened to Thundercracker's optics, something they'd never done in thousands of centuries—they flickered. Just for a brief instant. The Seeker pulled his head back in astonishment.

"_**What kind of glitch was that?"**_ he wondered to himself. _**"Decepticons don't DO that! What's WRONG with me?"**_

_**Maybe Skywarp was right…he WAS too sentimental about this pet.**_

His moment was suddenly interrupted when he heard the far off rumble of a boat engine. The Con zeroed in on the sound and a few miles away he could see a human vessel heading toward him. He narrowed his optics dangerously at the approaching ship and vehemently cast the life boat aside.

….

_Several miles away…_

After several long drawn out examinations the onboard medical staff determined Lana was in great health considering her exposure. Lana knew she couldn't tell them how she REALLY got on that life raft—they'd commit her. So she feigned post-traumatic stress and claimed she didn't remember what had happened to her boat or the crew. Sure she probably _had_ post-traumatic stress, but it wasn't because of an accident at sea. The doctors seemed to buy her story for the moment but she knew sooner or later they'd catch her in the lie.

But right now, she couldn't care less if they did. She was rescued. Lying back on the cot provided for her she sighed. She squirmed. It didn't feel as comfortable as her hammock.

"_Huh? Where did THAT come from?"_ she nearly sat up in horror as her mind viciously berated her, _"You never want to see a hammock again! You never want to be able to see through your bedroom walls again! You never want to see giant robots EVER again! Especially blue ones!"_

"_But…"_ her other half reminded, _"…you could've been a lot worse off. I mean Thundercracker kept you well fed, comfy, and he never hurt you."_

"_YES."_ her negative side interjected, _"But he also imprisoned you for no reason, treated you like a two-legged goldfish, and his "friends" repeatedly tried to kill you! Yeah…that was a swell vacation, Lana. Let's do it again next year!"_

"How are we doing Ms. Bertram?" three men accompanied by a nurse strode by.

"Lana." she sat up, glad she didn't call her 'little pet'. "Tired I guess."

The man who had spoken smiled kindly and took off his hat. He was an older man, probably past forty-five with a clean cut silvery mustache and gray eyes. He looked a lot like a generic kindly grandpa.

He knelt next to her cot, "I'm Captain Monty. I want to welcome you aboard my ship, Ms. Lana. The onboard physicians tell me you are only suffering from mild dehydration and post traumatic stress, but nothing more. How long were you adrift?"

Lana shrugged, "A few hours I guess."

"What was the name of your vessel? Was it a personal craft?" he inquired.

She said the first name that popped into her head, "The _Nemesis_ and yeah…it was a smaller craft."

"Did you send out any distress calls?"

Lana decided to pull an amnesia card, "I…I don't remember."

The captain patted her shoulder, "I understand. I'll have to ask you to help us fill in the gaps of the incident. When you're ready of course." he stood up.

"Ok. Thank you."

When the small group left, Lana laid back again, mind overflowing with thought. _Was she worried Thundercracker would find her again?_

"_He WILL look for you, you know that."_ her mind declared with certainty.

She laid the side of her arm over her eyes, trying to force herself to sleep and not think about it. At first it was hard but eventually she drifted into a state of light sleep.

…

"**WHERE IS SHE?"** Thundercracker demanded, holding the ship's unfortunate captain in an iron fist.

"I don't KNOW!" the frightened man insisted covering his head, "Don't kill me!"

"**Tell me where Lana is and I might just spare your miserable ship!"** the Con snapped angrily.

"I don't _KNOW_ any Lana! We're—we're just here to collect the life boat!" the man explained frantically.

The Con narrowed his red optics, **"By WHOSE order? WHO told you to collect the life boat?"**

For a second the man acted as if he couldn't tell him.

"**Tell me what I want to know or I'll crush your bones to powder!"** Thundercracker growled menacingly.

"C…Cap…Captain Monty."

"**Give me his ship's designation and coordinates."**

The man looked like he was about to throw up he was so scared, "Ship 708. But…you…you destroyed our radar. I…I don't know _where_ she is!"

Thundercracker eyed the smoking tower and wheelhouse. _**Slag.**_He just didn't want them to radio any information about his attack so he destroyed their communication system. But he knew of other ways to find a ship.

"**Then give me the ship's radio frequency!"** he ordered.

…

_A few hours later…_

"Here you are Miss Bertram." an onboard doctor smiled cheerfully, handing Lana a plate of food and a bottle of water.

"Thank you." the redhead returned the smile, eyeing the food though she wasn't hungry.

"I trust you have some appetite?"

Lana shrugged, "I guess."

Just as she picked up an apple from the tray, Lana's eyes snapped open when she heard the sound—the low, scathing, hiss of a jet engine.

"Oh…_no_." she whispered.

The doctor gave a worried frown, "Is there something wrong Miss?"

The jet's hiss soon became a rumble which grew more intense with every second. Lana dropped the apple in her lap, letting the tray slide off onto the floor with a clatter. The doctor jumped back, crying out in dismay at the mess.

"It's him!" Lana's whisper was intense.

Looking up from the mess the doctor inquired, "Him? Him who?"

Eventually the roar became so loud it rattled the deck plates and without warning it dissipated. Lana sighed—just a fly over?

"Who, Miss Bertram? What do you mean?" the doctor persisted, noticing her intensity.

Suddenly, the loudest sound Lana's ears had ever been assaulted by demolished the silent air. Glass from all the portholes shattered, tinkling to the floor. The redhead's hands flew up to her ears. Her cot was vibrating as were metal floors and walls of the ship. It sounded like an impossibly loud gunshot.

A klaxon blared and Lana could hear the shouts of crewmen echoing behind the walls. She sat up, frame shivering.

"_CODE RED! CODE RED! WE ARE UNDER ENEMY FIRE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. MAN YOUR STATIONS!"_ the intercom voice shouted.

Then, before Lana could stand up, the whole ship pitched forward, bucking unnaturally with a loud bang. Lana practically fell out of the cot and the doctor slammed against the bulkhead as the ship rocked violently. Gunfire ensued from outside accompanied by shouts.

And then…

"**GIVE HER BACK TO ME **_**NOW!**_**"**

…

Thundercracker had no trouble tracking down the Coast Guard ship once he learned the radio frequency it communicated with. He did a quick fly over to ensure it was the right boat and to assess its defenses. It was a well-armed vessel but nothing like the real military battleships. After determining the strength of his target, Thundercracker unleashed his signature attack. He swooped around and dove right at the massive ship, heating up his afterburners and releasing a devastating sonic boom onto its outer deck plates. All the glass exploded under the sound and even some metal plates buckled where the blast was strongest.

Transforming violently he flipped and landed on the front bow of the red and white ship. Under his tremendous weight the vessel bobbed and bucked, sending crewmen flying.

He was pissed these humans had taken his pet from him and they were about to know his wrath if she wasn't returned.

In a thunderous voice he yelled, **"GIVE HER BACK TO ME **_**NOW!**_**"**

Their answer of course was a hail of gunfire, pinging harmlessly off his metal body. The front mounted cannon swerved around on the deck but Thundercracker lifted his arm laser and melted it to slag.

"**Don't TEST me!"** he shouted with fury.

The huge blue Con moved up the bow of the ship to the wheelhouse, sending the men running. With unfathomable force he thrust his hand through the cabin and seized the first human his hand could grasp. It was only dumb luck it happened to be the captain.

"**Where IS she?"** Thundercracker demanded holding him up to his face.

"WH—Who?" the man stammered, still disbelieving.

The Con impatiently tightened his grip, **"Lana! I KNOW you have her!" **

Struggling to breathe with his chest compressed, the older man slapped the metal fingers. Thundercracker grit his mouth components and wrathfully took out half of the wheelhouse with his other arm.

"**WHERE?!"**

…

Lana found the first set of stairs she could and clamored up them, feeling the boat quaking with deafening blows. When she finally made it to the outer deck she beheld the titanic figure of Thundercracker standing on the bow just in front of the wheelhouse. Debris littered the deck and the wheelhouse was demolished. Lana craned her neck all the way back noticing her master was holding Captain Monty in his fist and demanding he return her to him. Fear filled Lana at the sight of him. His thrusters were hot and the massive cannon jutting from his wrist was whining dangerously with power. His visage was that of the metal god of war descended, unleashing his wrath upon earth's mortals in search of his stolen treasure. She'd never seen him so angry and he was truly frightening to behold.

For a moment Lana took a step back, wanting to hide below deck again. But, she knew from Thundercracker's booming tone he was not about to give up until the ship was torn apart or he found her; whichever came first. _Why did he want her back so badly? He could function just fine with out her! Why had he come looking for her and was reacting so violently in her namesake?_

Lana's courage, though challenged, resurfaced. _She couldn't let the Coast Guard crew be killed just because she dreaded being recaptured. How could she live with herself knowing hundreds of people died because she wouldn't show herself?_ _No. She couldn't bear that burden. She wouldn't!_

…

"STOP!"

Recognizing the voice immediately, Thundercracker turned his gaze upon Lana who had just emerged from below deck.

"**Lana!"** he sounded relieved.

Quickly he released the captain back into the damaged wheelhouse, gingerly scooped up the girl, and brought her to his chest. He stroked her affectionately, the metal titan momentarily appeased upon finding his pet. Then he lifted his head and trained his heavy arm gun on the ship. The high-powered whine of the weapon signaled its readiness.

"NO! Please don't hurt them!" Lana pleaded with the Con.

"**They stole you from me,"** he replied with anger in his great voice, **"No one steals from me!"**

She urgently reached up and touched the cockpit glass of his chest, "No! They didn't STEAL me. It's their job to rescue people on the ocean!"

"**You didn't NEED rescue,"** was his curt answer as his weapon tip lit up.

"Please! Don't hurt them…Master," the reference just slipped out.

His red optics regarded her for a moment and then the ship, debating.

Her tone rose with desperation, "PLEASE!"

"**Why do you care about **_**them**_**?"** he asked.

She peered over the edge of his hand at the few humans she could see, "I don't want anyone killed because of me. It's not right!"

For a long tense moment the Decepticon seemed to debate the statement in his head His arm weapon groaned as it powered down.

"**All right. I will spare them…but just this ONCE,"** Thundercracker answered.

Lana breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Thank you. Thank you."

His cockpit hissed open and he gently placed her inside. The Con's thrusters roared to life and he lifted off the deck into the air, disappearing from sight. Lana felt tears stream down her red cheeks. She had lost her freedom…again. She had come so close to it, tasted its light sweet nectar, and then it was snatched away.

Lana's blue eyes burned into the cockpit monitors before her. Suddenly she lost it. Rearing her foot up and back she slammed her heel as hard as she could into the radar screen. A hissing filled the cockpit and Thundercracker dipped his cone nose.

"**OW! Hey, easy!"**

She kicked the screen again screaming, "YOU SON OF A BITCH! _WHY?_"

Like a pair of snakes the seat harnesses slid across her chest and held her fast to the seat, pulling her legs down to stop her assault.

"**HEY! What's the **_**matter**_** with you, Lana?"** he asked tersely.

She struggled against the straps, growing even angrier, "WHY did you have to come?! _WHY?_"

The screen blinked with his voice, **"You're my pet. I wasn't going to let them take you from me."**

Lana growled, "For the millionth time…I'm NOT YOUR PET! I want to GO HOME!"

"**We'll be back to the **_**Nemesis**_** soon."** he explained, clearly missing her point.

She screamed with rage, thrashing her head violently, "NO! NEVER! I'd rather DIE!"

The whole jet slowed down a moment, hovering in midair, **"What?"**

"I'll _NEVER_ go back! I'd rather kill myself!" her voice was ragged and unnatural.

Quite abruptly Thundercracker shifted his form back to robot mode, opened his cockpit, and caught the girl in his hands to hold her up.

"**You want to… go offline?"**

She stood up in his hands, eyes wild, "YES! Yes, I would rather 'go offline' than spend another second with _YOU_!"

Without any warning Lana took a flying leap right over the edge of his hands.

"**NO!"** Thundercracker shouted, swooping down and catching her. The confused Decepticon grasped her firmly so she wouldn't jump again.

Lana struggled, "Let me GO!"

"**No! I don't want you to go offline."** he insisted.

"Then let me go!" Lana demanded.

"**No."** he said simply. **"Why are you acting like this?"**

The redhead continued her vain struggle, "Because I have HAD IT! I'm tired of being treated like property! I'm TIRED of being a source of amusement! And I'm TIRED of YOU, you fucking machine!"

Narrowing his optics the blue Con slowly began to descend. Lana looked and noticed a small spit of an island on the blue surface below. It wasn't more than a few hundred yards in diameter and somehow supported a few tufts of sea grass and two scraggly palm trees.

Curtly Thundercracker landed on the island and plunked her down on the ground. He stood up and growled, **"FINE. If you don't NEED me then I don't NEED you!"**

Thrusters roaring, the big robot jet lifted off the island and disappeared into the evening sky.

"I _NEVER_ needed YOU!" she shouted, kicking sand in the air.


	10. Arguments of the Mind

_**A/N:**_** EXCITING NEWS! My story "Tinman" is being featured on the Audio Fanfiction site! I got a kick-ass banner and everything! But here's the awesome part: If I get enough votes and ratings it might just be read by a ****professional voice talent**** and put online for all of you to **_**hear**_**! So I'm promoting myself here… I don't have any votes yet, but you the fans and readers can change that! **

**GO TO audiofanfic . com ****to register as a contributor, and VOTE FOR TINMAN! **

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 10: "Arguments of the Mind"**

_Later that night…_

Lana shivered as a crisp wind whipped over the ocean and made her skin texture with goose bumps. She hugged her knees as she sat in the sand, trying to keep herself warm. Her light pants, sneakers, and T-shirt were proving insufficient for warmth. The hiss of the sea rolled across the sand, threatening to make her even colder. She wisely sat closest to the center of the island away from water near the half-dead palm trees.

"_Well? Are you happy now, Lana?"_ her mind asked sarcastically,

"I wasn't going back." she insisted.

"_At least THERE you were warm and taken care of."_ her mind argued.

She cringed, "But I was nothing."

"_And you were SOMETHING before?"_ it retorted. _"Please! You were an object BEFORE Thundercracker took you. How was stripping and barely scraping by on those tips any better?_

"At least I had freedom."

She shivered as a fresh wind bit through the fabric of her clothes.

"_Oh yeah, you're free now…free to freeze to death on this waste of an island and probably die of dehydration in a couple days." _her mind bitterly reminded.

She bit back, "I'd rather _die_ than go back in that cage and just wait for those monsters to kill me."

"_Liar."_

"I WOULD!" she insisted, "I almost did it!"

Her mind shook its unseen "head", _"You KNEW he wouldn't let you fall."_

Lana couldn't argue with her own mind. It was right. But she still couldn't figure out why—_why did he care so much if she was nothing but a pet?_

…

_Later…_

Thundercracker flew hard and fast through the night sky, his sonic booms dispersing the clouds and rattling the very molecules of the air. His Spark was thrumming loudly in his chest and his vents were working frantically to keep the heat generated by his anger under control.

"**That ungrateful little speck of carbon!"** he grumbled nastily to himself, **"I did everything to keep her happy and cared for, and she would rather **_**terminate**_** herself?"**

He spun sharply cutting his wing through a thick cloud bank. It didn't make any sense to him. She had been stolen from him and when he came to rescue her she turned on him. Why? Hadn't he cared for her? Hadn't he provided for all her organic needs? Why was she so dead set against him? He'd never once hurt her though he was perfectly capable and often justified. Why couldn't she accept being his pet?

He flew faster, blurring the moonlight on the ocean below into lines of light. His confusion rippled through his mainframe. The Decepticon part of him burned with fierce anger at his pet's unappreciative mannerisms and yet his "other" part demanded he retrieve her immediately.

"_**If she doesn't WANT your care then leave her! Ungrateful little squishy!"**_ his Con thoughts snarled. _**"If she can't appreciate you then let her perish like the rest of her species! She was a pain in the afterburners anyway."**_

The other part calmly replied, _**"But you can't just leave her to die. She needs you whether she admits it or not. **__**You**__** need that little human."**_

"_**THAT'S A LIE!"**_ snapped the Con rebuttal._** "YOU don't NEED anyone. You've NEVER needed anyone. You can only rely on yourself!" **_the Con in him bitterly asserted.

His often quieter side seemed to smirk smugly, _**"Then why did you waste your time caring for her and reclaiming her if you don't need her?"**_

"_**Because she's MINE! She belongs to me and NO ONE steals from me!" **_his Con side snapped.

"_**Then why didn't you destroy the ship and the humans who took her?"**_

His Con side surprisingly had no answer. _That_ went completely against his whole programming. Sure he didn't like to take out humans as much as the other Decepticons for the simple fact that humans were puny, weak, and, quite frankly, unworthy of much attention. But this time he had an actual motive to destroy them. And yet…he didn't. His pet's pleas had halted his natural responses.

"_**You DO need her, more than you want to admit."**_ his other side continued.

The Con side of him was squirming uneasily, but kept silent. Thundercracker expelled a hot gust from his air vents, relinquishing victory to his "other" side.

…

_Much later into the night…_

Lana, shivering uncontrollably, huddled against the sand in the tiniest ball she could form with her body. The wind was so bitter. Suddenly she heard the roar of a jet engine. From the dark sky above, a pair of hot blue flames descended, parting the clouds like a curtain. The young woman sat up, feeling relief as the powerful backwash of heat from the roaring thrusters swept over her cold skin. In mere seconds the colossal form touched down on the tiny strip of sand, moon peeking from behind arched jet wings.

She looked up at the crimson optics glowing in the dark and then averted her gaze. Thundercracker tipped his helmeted head but didn't speak. A wide silence grew between them. With a groaning of mechanics, the big blue Decepticon knelt down, extended his hand out to her, and rested it on the sand, waiting.

Lana looked at him, shaking her head, "I'm not going back."

The mech frowned but said gently, **"You're cold."**

"So?" she mumbled bitterly.

He curled his fingers a bit, **"Come on, Lana. Cold isn't good for you."**

"I'll live."

The Decepticon shook his head, **"You have no resources on this island. You won't last long."** he inched his black hand closer, **"Come on."**

"Leave me alone!" Lana quickly stood up and ran in the opposite direction.

Making an irritated growl, Thundercracker easily reached out and caught her before she could get very far.

The girl fought back, "Let GO of me!"

Ignoring her protests, the Con cupped her in both hands, warming up his metal. Though she fought hard, the redhead eventually submitted, her body enjoying the warmth. Thundercracker felt her relax in his hands.

"**There we go. Nice and warm."** he rumbled quietly.

With groaning, banging metal, the huge robot sat down, legs almost stretching across the entire width of the island. He hissed hot air out of his vents. They sat in silence for several minutes, Thundercracker's fingers automatically beginning to stroke her shoulder.

Lana sighed with frustration, "Why'd you come back?"

The jet Con was silent as if thinking about a proper response.

Lana gave him a critical stare, "I thought you didn't need me. I'm just a pet after all."

The Con made a mechanical rumbling sound but didn't answer.

"Why DO you need me?" Lana demanded very seriously.

In the dark the red optics directed at her but he didn't give an answer.

Lana shoved his fingers away fervidly, "I _just _want to know WHY you feel the need to keep me at all!" She made a sweeping gesture of his massive form, "I mean _look_ at you! You're a giant flying jet robot with enough weaponry and power to level a city; you've got a bunch of other giant robots to hang out with, what the HELL do you need a human pet for?"

After a long silent moment Thundercracker finally looked at the starry sky, **"Because…because I wanted one."**

The young woman huffed, "That's not a reason! If that _were_ the reason then you could go find another human to replace me. Why do you want ME?"

"**You're a good pet."** he replied quickly.

Lana dropped her head, "UGG. Stop being so vague!"

His optics roved upward, seeming to show his unwillingness to say what was on his mind. **"I protect you, I feed you, I give you shelter. You…need me."**

"BULL—SHIT!" Lana spat.

He sat up straighter with offense.

"You kidnap me! You cage me! You demean me! WHY the HELL do **I** need you?!" the redhead shouted.

Thundercracker minutely clenched his fingers, making Lana fearfully hold her breath. He ground his mouth components and growled, but then relaxed his hand again.

"WELL?" Lana demanded.

"**Because no one ELSE does!"** was his gruff reply.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Thundercracker fixed his red optics on her, holding her up with a roll of thunder in his voice, **"Do you KNOW what happens if I go into battle and get busted up bad enough?"**

Lana drew back, "No."

"**I get recycled for parts."** he gestured angrily, **"My weapons, my thrusters, my wings, my armor…all of it gets stripped off me and reused. I don't even have to be offline for anyone to rip it off."**

"I thought you said you get fixed if you get hurt." the girl refuted.

He snorted looking away bitterly, **"I'm an expendable asset. As soon as I can't fight I'm scrapped. In MY faction no one cares if you come back or not. It's just one less gun on the line and one less Energon ration to distribute."**

Lana blinked, totally floored by such a statement. He was a soldier, a dispensable grunt.

Thundercracker looked at her again, voice sounding uncomfortable, **"After so many centuries of fighting, it was consoling for me to know someone **_**needed**_** me to come back—that someone **_**wanted**_** me to come back for reasons other than filling the ranks." **

Lana blinked again. Her conscious was now beating her brains to mush. He was just…lonely. Now she finally understood what a giant alien robot wanted with a human like her. He needed to feel wanted, like someone cared. It was so clear…_why hadn't she seen it before?_ Humans kept pets to fill a void of companionship or to give them a sense of purpose through their care. Thundercracker, though a robot, viewed her in the same way. Her protection and care gave him purpose.

The blue Decepticon frowned, lowering her back to the sand, **"But…I see that you don't need me either."**

He removed his hand but Lana grabbed hold of his index finger.

"Wait!"

Thundercracker blinked, stunned by the reaction.

"**What?"**

Lana shook her head, not believing she was admitting it but…"Look…I…I didn't mean to make you feel…unappreciated." she confessed. "You've actually done a good job of caring for me."

He gave her a disbelieving look.

"It's just…you've got to understand that humans DON'T like to be caged up."

Thundercracker's optics glanced around a moment, **"Well…you don't HAVE to stay in that enclosure. I could cut some little doors out for you so you could wander around my quarters."**

Lana sighed, "That would be nice but…"

"**I could also take you flying whenever you wanted."** his tone lilted with persuasion, **"And let you run around with other humans sometimes if you promised to come back."**

Lana dropped her head. _Good Lord he sounded desperate._ It was like letting a date down "gently" because he wasn't your type.

"Thundercracker I don't…" she started but was interrupted.

"_**Thundercracker,"**_ a loud humming voice called over the Con's communication line, _**"Report: Why haven't you returned to base?"**_

"**Just polishing my combat maneuvers Soundwave." **Thundercracker replied.

"_**Return to base."**_ was the short order.

"**Understood."**

Rising to his feet, Thundercracker gently placed Lana in his cockpit.

"Hey! Wait a minute…" Lana started but he was already transforming and shooting off into the night sky. Rolling her eyes back in defeat she leaned into his seat.

He _STILL_ didn't understand, despite all she'd said!

_No, that wasn't it. _

He understood…he just couldn't let go. And _she_ understood now. He wasn't just imprisoning her for his own amusement; he was keeping her as a source of comfort to deal with the plight of being a disposable soldier. In all honesty she felt pity for the metal giant.

And yet…she couldn't help but want her own freedom back. But did she really want to go back to her old life? Her old job? Did she really have it so bad as a pet? Could she ever make Thundercracker understand her need to be free?

_**A/N: A shorter chapter I suppose. But something very JUICY is going to happen in the next chapter! I promise! Oh and if anyone is in the mood for a darker fic featuring Animated Starscream check out my new story "You Are Mine".**_

_**And don't forget to cast a vote for "Tinman" if you're a fan!**_

_**Thanks!**_


	11. Discovery

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 11: "Discovery"**

_Back on the Nemesis that same night…_

Thundercracker swooped into the massive landing bay of the Nemesis as it closed its violet metal "jaws" behind him and plunged back beneath the ocean surface. Lana watched his cockpit glass darken around her and felt him land on his feet. The sway of his walk halted after a moment.

A very mechanical voice spoke from outside, vibrating the cockpit glass with its harmonic resonance, _**"Report."**_

…_**.**_

Thundercracker stopped upon bumping into Soundwave at the end of the landing bay. He knew the communications specialist was fritzing silently about his late arrival to the Nemesis. Promptness and punctuality were Soundwave's sole codes of ethics and he didn't like late arrivals.

"**I already **_**told**_** you Soundwave, I was polishing my combat maneuvers. Didn't Starscream rant and rave when he came back about how much of screw-up I was today?"**

"_**Affirmative."**_the communications specialist confirmed, _**"Radio reports from the human Coast Guard confirming Decepticon attack on Ship 708."**_

"**I thought I destroyed their radio capability."** Thundercracker frowned.

"_**Negative. Reports made through satellite feeds." **_

Thundercracker tried to keep his mind blank, knowing the slightest hint of a lie would prompt the telepath to scan his mainframe. **"Yeah. I messed up a couple of their ships. I needed to spice up my training."**

"_**Also there are reports of an abduction of human female from Ship 708."**_ he stated.

The blue jet Con shrugged his vented shoulders taking on all the casualness of Skywarp in his response, **"Yeah I grabbed one. I just wanted to see its reaction to a little stunt flying—didn't go so well. They don't do well at high altitudes."**

Before Soundwave could question further, Megatron's voice rang out over the communicator, **"Soundwave, report to the control room immediately."**

"_**As you command."**_ the blue and white telepath turned slowly, marching to aid his leader. As an afterthought, he looked back at the Seeker, _**"Thundercracker, you will report to Cargo Bay 3 to perform Energon production on fossil fuels obtained."**_

A quiet groan issued from the blue Decepticon. Converting fossil fuels into Energon while on the Nemesis was so boring. It was far more thrilling to do it on site.

"**All right just let me…"**

"_**Now**_." Soundwave hummed intensely.

Thundercracker's internal systems relaxed with a low groan. _**That was too close.**_ But now he had another problem. He had to work and there was no time to take Lana back to his quarters.

…

After listening to the conversation Lana was just baffled by Thundercracker's lying ability. _But…was he truly lying?_ He obviously cared about _her_ well-being, but was he truly _that_ callous toward other members of her species? It was pretty clear the other giant robots saw humans the same way humans viewed rats or cockroaches—but was Thundercracker just "blowing smoke" or was he expressing how he truly felt?

"What was that all about?" she asked.

There was a pause and then Thundercracker explained, **"I have to report to Cargo Bay 3."**

"You can drop me off on the way."

"**I can't. My quarters are two decks below Cargo Bay 3 and if I don't go right now then I'll really get it."** he explained in a hissing tone. **"Just stay quiet, ok?"**

Lana felt somewhat nervous as her master walked, until he finally stopped. The glass of his cockpit cleared a bit and Lana found herself staring at gigantic door, scrolled with alien characters. She guessed it was Cargo Bay 3. The door hissed open with a mighty bang and her master entered. Inside Lana's eyes widened with wonder at the large stacks of glowing pink cubes and the tower of 55 gallon oil drums against the far wall of the gigantic room. The Cargo Bay even made Thundercracker seem small. Oddly, there weren't too many of the glowing cubes.

Thundercracker cast suspicious eyes around the cargo bay, but soon realized no one else was there.

Pressing her hands to the cockpit glass Lana looked around some more, "What are you going to do?"

With no amount of enthusiasm he grabbed four barrels of oil, **"Convert fossil fuels into Energon."**

"Can I watch?"

Thundercracker glanced around again, assuring himself no one else was present or watching. With a quick adjustment he reversed the polarity of his cockpit glass so Lana could see out, but any prying eyes could not see inside.

"**All right."**

Like he was opening aluminum cans, Thundercracker tore off the tops of the oil drums and dumped the oil into one of the transparent energy cubes. The viscous black fuel passed through some kind of barrier at the top of the cube and once it did the cube began to hum. Like magic, the oil transformed into the pink glowing liquid.

"How'd you do that?" Lana was mesmerized.

"**The chemical process of it is far too complicated to explain." **

Thundercracker emptied four more barrels into the cube until it appeared full. Casting the empty barrels aside, Thundercracker placed his hands on the glowing cube and pressed down hard. The glowing cube compressed down and he stacked it with the others.

Lana made a fascinated noise.

"**You're easily entertained,"** he grumbled.

Thundercracker continued his work and Lana's fascination soon paled with the monotony of it. Her mind began to wander to more pressing matters.

_What was she going to do?_ She'd never had anyone "need" her before and quite frankly she wasn't very thrilled with the prospect. The longer she remained with Thundercracker the more ingrained his dependency and attachment would become. He was already more attached than she ever thought possible for a robot. _Did that bode well for her?_ _Did that bode well for HIM?_ _What if one of the other Decepticons found out about her? _

"How long is this going to last Thundercracker?" she finally asked.

"**Bored already huh?"** he smirked.

"No. I mean _this _situation."

He looked down at her.

"I'm not stupid you know. I _know_ you're not allowed to keep me and you're lying your ass off so no one else finds out about me." Lana stared critically at him, "How long do you think you can keep this up?"

He looked away, frowning as he continued his work. Clearly he had been thinking the same thing, but never wanted to bring it up.

Lana drummed her fingers on the console in front of her, "What would happen if your commander figures out you've been keeping me?"

Thundercracker stopped, releasing air from his vents, **"He's not going to find out."**

"Secrets can only be secrets for _so_ long."

He growled, **"He's NOT going to find out."**

Lana massaged her right temple, "_Great…now he's in denial."_

When an uncomfortable silence fell, she decided to strike up a pertinent conversation, "So… were you always a soldier?"

His optics glanced down at her, **"Why would you ask that?"**

"Just curious."

He continued working and explained, **"I was formatted and built for military service, yes. Were YOU always a dancer?"** he returned the query.

"No. When I was little I…"

She was interrupted by Thundercracker's ironic laugh.

Rolling her eyes she rephrased, "When I was a CHILD, I wanted to be a nurse and help people."

"**Were you formatted to be a 'nurse'?"**

Lana tried to translate his techno babble, "Well…I was always good with people if that's what you mean." She watched his hands rip open more oil drums, "Did you always want to be a soldier when you were…a...robot child?"

"**When I was a Sparkling I always wanted to be a Seeker."**

Lana suppressed a snicker at the cute word. The word sounded funny in his deep rumbling basso.

"Guess you got your wish."

He shrugged.

Without any warning, Skywarp teleported right next to Thundercracker, startling the blue Seeker.

"**GEEZ, WARP! Don't DO that!"** Thundercracker grated with recovering irritation.

The black and violet Seeker watched his comrade a moment and frowned unpleasantly, **"Conversion duty? Did Sound-jerk give you that job?"**

Thundercracker stacked another cube and compressed it, **"Yeah. I was late coming back."**

"**Where'd you go anyway? Did ya get your squishy back?" **

Tapping his cockpit, Thundercracker nodded.

Skywarp put his hand to his face with reproach, **"TC, TC. You REALLY need to get rid of that thing."**

"**No. I like it."** Thundercracker insisted.

"**That's my point. That thing is making you soft!"** the black Seeker pointed at him.

Thundercracker straightened his posture, **"No she isn't."**

Suddenly, Skywarp's hand whipped around and struck a panel close to Thundercracker's cockpit, reflexively popping it open. Before the blue Seeker could fend him off, Skywarp snatched Lana right out of his chest and leaped backward. Lana cried out.

"**WARP! GIVE HER BACK!"** Thundercracker boomed, arching in a pouncing position.

The violet Seeker dangled Lana out in front of him, **"Oh! OH! I'm going to drop it!"**

"**NO! DON'T!"** Thundercracker threw up a hand.

Skywarp wrapped his fingers more securely around Lana, shaking his head, **"Just LISTEN to yourself TC! You sound like a slaggin' Autobot."**

Grinding in his chest, Thundercracker's optics flashed, **"What did you SAY?"**

The purple and black Decepticon cocked a metal brow and placed Lana on one of the stacks of Energon cubes, **"You heard me…Autobot!"**

Quite suddenly, Skywarp disappeared and reappeared beside Thundercracker, shoving him away from the cubes into the open part of the cargo bay. Thundercracker retaliated with a powerful left hook to Skywarp's helmet. The two Cons brawled, punching and shoving each other with all the force of two trains colliding.

Lana watched the fight in disbelief and horror. The collisions of the two mechs were so loud she thought her ears drums might rupture. As she stood on the tower of glowing cubes a crackling and flashing caught her attention. Lana moved toward the flashing in the middle of the stack. All the other cubes were passively glowing a light purple color, but this flashing one was swirling and acting like it was boiling. A warning instinct was going off in Lana's brain. Something wasn't right with this cube.

"Hey!" she shouted at the two fighting Cons.

Naturally they didn't hear her.

"HEY! STOP! HEY!" Lana screamed at the top of her lungs and waved her arms.

Thundercracker paused, looking at her while barring off Skywarp's fist.

"Is this supposed to be flashing like that?" she shouted, pointing to the tumultuous cube.

That seemed to stop the Cons. Immediately forgetting their quarrel they marched over to the stack of cubes.

"**OH HOLY FRAG!"** Skywarp cursed, optics wide.

"What? What's wrong with it?"

Thundercracker quickly snatched her up and placed her in his cockpit.

He tapped the side of his helmet, **"Emergency in Cargo Bay 3! Unstable Energon in Cargo Bay 3!"**

A deafening klaxon echoed throughout the ship, flashing warning lights flickering. Thundercracker leaned over the stack of Energon, trying to decide how to remove the unstable cube.

"**Come on TC! We've gotta get outta here before it blows!" **Skywarp urged.

"**NO! If we let it blow all the other cubes will explode too and we'll ALL be scrap!" **Thundercracker quickly handed Skywarp a cube and reached for another, **"We've got to get it off the Nemesis."**

Megatron's deep voice all at once shouted over the speakers, _**"Thundercracker! What's going on down there?"**_

The blue Con kept passing cubes to Skywarp, trying to get to the malfunctioning one. **"Megatron, we've got an unstable Energon cube in the middle of the Cargo Bay 3 stockpile."**

"_**Get it off the ship NOW!"**_ was the urgent reply.

"**Working on it."** Thundercracker shouted, removing more cubes.

Lana was watching his hands move with horror. If that cube was going to explode and the others with it she didn't want to be anywhere near it. She wasn't sure how much protection Thundercracker's cockpit would provide.

Finally the blue Seeker got to the faulty cube and gingerly lifted it up. The cube thrummed and the unsound Energon boiled violently.

"**Megatron I've got it!"** he shouted.

"_**Skywarp! Teleport that cube off the Nemesis!"**_ Megatron shouted the command.

The black and violet Seeker grimaced and took the cube from Thundercracker. He disappeared in a flash of light. Not more than two seconds passed before a muffled explosion accompanied by a loud bang on the ship's hull struck.

Thundercracker immediately touched his helmet com, **"Skywarp, come in."**

The static that answered made Lana cringe. But then a flash appeared from the far side of the cargo bay and Skywarp slammed into the wall, falling on his back.

"**Son of a GLITCH!" **he swore, shaking ocean water from his metal.

Thundercracker helped him up, **"You all right?"**

Skywarp sounded relieved but annoyed, **"Cut it a little closer there wouldn't you say?"**

"**Ah, quit your whining. At least you're functional."**

At that moment the bay doors opened and in strode the Decepticon leader, Megatron, followed by Soundwave, Ravage, and Starscream. Lana tensed up upon seeing the gray metal tyrant approaching. She knew he couldn't see her but his overwhelming presence made her draw back in the cockpit seat.

"**What is going ON here?"** Megatron demanded, surveying the undamaged bay.

The two Seekers saluted and Thundercracker spoke up, **"Megatron, sir. One of the Energon cubes was unstable. We managed to remove it before it could do any damage."**

"**How did it malfunction? Was it something YOU buffoons did?"** Starscream accused.

"**No sir. We just happened to notice it while converting the fossil fuels."** Thundercracker insisted.

Soundwave and Ravage were meanwhile inspecting the Energon surplus carefully.

"**Soundwave, your analysis?"** Megatron glanced as his communications specialist.

"_**Reason for instability unknown. Remaining Energon cubes all stable,"**_ came the harmonic analysis.

Megatron nodded briskly, **"It seems you two have made yourselves useful." **Grabbing a couple of the cubes Megatron handed them to the Seekers, **"Deserving of an extra Energon ration for saving the supply."**

"**Thank you sir."** Thundercracker and Skywarp both answered.

The Decepticon leader waved his hand, "**Return to your quarters and recharge. You'll need it for the raid tomorrow."**

Banging their metal heels together the two Seekers saluted and then left.

As they walked down the corridor Skywarp gave his friend a side-long glance, **"Do yourself a favor and get rid of that squishy, Thundercracker. You can't let yourself get weak."**

Thundercracker just snorted and diverged off toward his quarters.

…

As Thundercracker and Skywarp left Ravage leaped on the stack of Energon cubes, olfactory sensors scanning the air particles. Perhaps a scent clue would determine the Energon instability? Suddenly he detected the smell, a very familiar smell, one he had briefly encountered. The panther mech sniffed again, hissing when the familiar musky odor hit him more strongly. And it was fresh.

…

With a hiss Thundercracker's cockpit opened up and he cupped his hand near it. Taking the hint, Lana climbed out and sat down in the massive, black hand. Ever so gently, Thundercracker stroked her head and back.

"**You did great Lana. Without you we would've lost all that Energon and probably our ship too."** he praised.

Lana accepted the familiar treatment.

He then placed her on his work space and opened the door that revealed her enclosure. He brought the whole thing out and set it near her.

"**Ok. Where should a put those doors?"** he asked, eyeing the cage.

Lana looked up at him with befuddlement, "Doors? You're really going to cut out doors?"

He nodded, **"I **_**said**_** I would. Where would you like them?"**

The redhead shrugged. Thundercracker gave her a measuring stare and then the tip of his finger shifted apart to reveal a blue flame. In mere seconds the flame cut a small rounded opening just tall enough to let her out. Then he cut one out of the other side.

Thundercracker placed a hand to his chin with thought, **"Maybe one in the middle toward the back would be good too."**

He proceeded to cut it while Lana shuffled her feet uncomfortably. Improvement though it was, it still didn't change the situation.

"**Yeah, that'll do it."** the jet Con nodded with satisfaction. **"Now you can come out whenever you want."**

Lana gripped the side of her right arm, "Thank you, but Thundercracker…"

The Decepticon suddenly interrupted her, **"Oh! You need refueling."**

"Well, yes but I…" she started.

But Thundercracker quickly curled his fingers around her and sat in his chair. He reached up to a compartment nearby and delicately retrieved a peach. He held the fruit a few inches above her head and she slowly took it. It tasted good and yet bitterness still lingered in the back of her throat. It was yet another long quiet moment.

Lana finished her fruit and said quietly, "Look, Thundercracker, I know you're fond of me, but maybe Skywarp…was right?" she turned and noticed the Decepticon's red optics were dark and his head was tipped forward.

"Thundercracker?" she hit his fingers, "Thundercracker?"

The Decepticon's systems were hissing and clicking quietly with intermitted electrical sounds. He was in recharge. Lana sighed, resting her elbows on the big black digits.

"Well…guess I'm tired anyway." she muttered to herself.

She shifted, trying to find a comfortable position between the large metal fingers. Relaxing, Lana listened to the precise workings of her master gently lulling her to sleep. Eventually, her eyes closed too.

…

The scent was close, Ravage knew it. Slinking down the corridor he followed the scent until he arrived at a door. Thundercracker's quarters. Ravage sniffed again just to be sure and then bounded back to his Master's quarters.

_**A/N: Sorry I took so long with that chapter…I just wasn't sure how to arrange it. Anyhoo… **_

_**UPDATE ON TINMAN! If you go to the audiofanfic .com site there is a TINMAN TRAILER for you guys to listen to! These guys are awesome. So go and enjoy! I'll keep ya'll posted as new developments occur. And THANK YOU SO MUCH!**_


	12. Contraband

_**A/N: Ok! The audio drama of "Tinman" is set to be ready Christmas day! So I'm getting just what I want for Christmas ^^) Just so ya'll know.**_

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 12: "Contraband"**

_Later…_

Lana awoke unable to feel her legs. She stretched, feeling the painful tingling of blood resuming its circulation to her legs. Sleeping in Thundercracker's hand wasn't exactly the most comfortable bed. She looked up at him; he was still in recharge. Sometime while she slept he'd propped up his feet on his work table creating a rather effective bridge to her enclosure. Her hammock was much more comfortable. Lana wriggled her body, squirming out from between his fingers until his was sitting on his thumb joint. She kicked her legs with a wince, trying to rid herself of the deadness.

Rising slowly, Lana traipsed over the ridges and ledges of Thundercracker's hand and then stepped down onto the edge of his hip plate. She looked down at his thigh below her, doubting whether she could jump down onto it and wondering if sliding would be a better means of getting down. With great caution she ducked down, sitting on the ledge of his hip plate. Her feet slid down a bit, finding another tiny foothold further down. Preparing herself she jumped down onto his thigh, arms spinning for balance.

Her landing caused a chain reaction of movement. Startled, Thundercracker snapped out of recharge, leaning back too far. Arms flailing for purchase, he fell backward. With a loud shout and a curse in Cybertronian the huge Decepticon crashed to the floor with deafening impact. Lana screamed as she flew backward and bounced across the Seeker's metal abdomen coming to a stop just below his chest armor. His resounding groan shook the metal beneath her.

"**OH…throw me in the smelter!"** he cursed, struggling to sit up amid his entanglement with the chair.

Thundercracker suddenly noticed Lana wasn't in his hand and he checked it carefully for any grisly signs of an accidental squishing. His hand was clean.

"**Lana?"** he called.

The young woman tried to stand up but fell back onto his abdomen.

Relieved to see his pet unsquished he picked her up, **"There you are. Are you undamaged?"**

Lana nodded, trying to calm the pounding of her heart, "Are YOU?"

He ran a quick diagnostic, **"Yeah, just a couple small dents."**

Looking at the Decepticon in such an undignified position made Lana snicker, "You know, for a giant, super advanced robot you sure are a klutz."

He gave her an incredulous look before resting his head back and laughing deeply. After a moment he extended his arm out as far as he could reach and placed her on the floor.

She snorted, "Don't fall again."

He groaned, **"Oh you're a RIOT."**

Throwing his legs around to one side, the blue Con sat up and rolled away from his chair. He sat on his hands and knees, ready to push himself up when the door to his quarters opened with a hiss. Thundercracker's head shot up, optics wide. Soundwave was darkening the doorway.

"**What's the meaning of this?"** the Seeker demanded, standing up and placing his body in a position to hide Lana from view.

"_**Quarter inspection."**_ Soundwave replied flatly.

"**On what grounds?"** the blue Seeker challenged.

Soundwave merely lowered his head a bit, _**"You are suspected to have contraband. Ravage detected an unusually strong scent of human leading to your quarters."**_ the communications officer explained._**"**_

Thundercracker's spark fell, squirming uncomfortably in its casing. _**Damn Ravage to the pit! He followed Lana's scent from the cargo bay! How could he have been so stupid to miss that?**_

"**I don't HAVE any contraband."** he lied.

"_**Step outside Thundercracker."**_ Soundwave flashed his visor, _**"Or I'll throw you out."**_

Thundercracker was torn. Soundwave would find Lana, no question there. Then he'd certainly find her enclosure. And if he found Lana he'd terminate her. He _couldn't_ let him kill his pet. But…he was a Decepticon solider sworn to obey the faction leaders. To defend his pet would certainly go against the code of his brethren and brand him as weak; a death sentence among such vicious comrades.

Before Thundercracker could make much of a choice on the matter he was struck by a mainframe shaking vibration. He winced, lowering his head as Soundwave beat him down with his sound.

"_**Surrender the contraband." **_

"**No…"** Thundercracker hissed.

The blue Seeker's afterburners lit and suddenly he unleashed a sonic boom. Soundwave flew back through the door and hit the opposite wall of the corridor. Thundercracker stormed after him, wings and thrusters flaring against his back. Soundwave recovered quickly throwing his arms up and slamming Thundercracker with a massive audio pulse. The blue Seeker hit the wall, his metal ringing.

"_**Surrender the contraband."**_ Soundwave demanded once again.

Thundercracker dropped low, swinging his leg around to knock Soundwave off of his feet, but the mech dodged it. Returning the attack Soundwave swung his leg and hit the Seeker in the shoulder. He followed through with a right hook to Thundercracker's helmet. Roaring, Thundercracker's fists whirled, slamming the masked face repeatedly.

The two fought until suddenly Soundwave slammed Thundercracker to the wall and grabbed the side of his helmet, inserting his metal probes. Stunned, the blue Seeker went limp as the telepath scanned his mainframe, selecting the information he sought.

"**Get…out…of…my head."** Thundercracker growled, trying to reboot his motor controls.

The probe only lasted a few brief moments before Soundwave released him, dropping the Seeker's body to the corridor floor. Thundercracker's motor relays were still sluggish as he pushed himself up.

"_**Contraband will be confiscated and brought to Megatron,"**_ the telepath hummed. _**"Ravage, eject. Operation: retrieve the human."**_

Flying gracefully out of his master's chest compartment, Ravage bounded into Thundercracker's quarters. In only a couple minutes Lana cried out and the metal panther returned, dragging the young woman by the back of her pants.

Thundercracker was on his hands and knees, still trying to regain motor control, **"No! Give her back."**

Ravage leaped straight off the ground and tossed his head, pitching Lana into Soundwave's awaiting hand.

The telepath gripped her and replied, _**"Request denied. Human is now confiscated."**_

With that, Soundwave walked away leaving Thundercracker alone.

…

Lana was so scared she could barely control herself as she was carried through the corridors by the faceless mech. His grip was too firm, almost crushing. She knew there was no escape. It had finally happened: Thundercracker got caught with her and now it seemed they would both pay the price. Part of her wanted to blame Thundercracker for being so foolish and selfish with her. But then again he was someone wounded by loneliness; logic didn't factor in.

Though she knew it would be a waste of breath she asked, "Where are you taking me?"

Naturally Soundwave didn't answer her. He moved through the corridors and eventually strode into a wide transparent tube. Before Lana could react the tube hummed and Soundwave levitated upward. It was like an elevator or a giant vacuum delivery system. If she weren't so frightened she most certainly would've thought the whole experience was fascinating. The tube's light dimmed and Soundwave stepped out, marching onward until he arrived at a very large metal door marked with bold purple Decepticon insignias. Soundwave placed his finger on a slick panel and it lit up.

"**What is it Soundwave?"** Megatron's graveled voice demanded.

"_**Reporting on contraband search,"**_ he answered.

A non-excited sigh hissed through the speaker, **"Come in and deliver your report."**

Lana instantly recognized the voice of the Decepticon leader and instantly she knew: she was going to die.

…

Megatron didn't like to hear contraband reports. Soundwave had to deliver them daily and most of the time it only reinforced the warlord's notion that his troops were undisciplined morons. Rumble and Frenzy were the worst offenders of being caught with contraband with Skywarp in second. Megatron bet a store of Energon those little imbeciles had found something new to amuse themselves with and now HE had to hear about it. He was the most feared tyrant in the known galaxy, not a Sparkling sitter for mechs who didn't know the meaning of distancing themselves from the cultures and species they were sought to conquer.

Soundwave approached his planning table and he rolled his hand in a come hither gesture, **"All right Soundwave what is it THIS time?"**

Curtly Soundwave plunked a small human female down on the holographic mapping table in front of him. Megatron's optics widened minutely and then narrowed.

"**Who had this?"** his tone was low.

"_**Thundercracker."**_

Megatron quirked a disbelieving brow, **"You didn't get this off of Skywarp?"**

"_**Negative. It was found in Thundercracker's quarters."**_

The Decepticon commander drummed his fingers with irritation, **"Send him up here immediately."**

"_**As you command."**_

Lana cowered on her knees before the titanic Decepticon leader. She wanted to shrink down so small she disappeared. But nothing could hide her from those scathing red eyes. He lifted his hand to her.

…

The inevitable call made it to Thundercracker.

"_**Thundercracker, report to Lord Megatron's quarters." **_

The blue Seeker dropped his head a bit, drawing a long intake through his vents as he trudged to the nearest transport tube. He'd finally regained all of his motor control but now he was having trouble steadying his thoughts. Lana was going to be terminated and _he_ was going to get it. Megatron would probably beat the living slag out of his plating or assign him a nonstop work regiment until he succumbed to energy drain and dropped. Maybe both. Bringing human items on the ship carried the punishment of extra work and sometimes worse depending on what it was used for. Bringing a live human into the Nemesis was probably more severe.

He knew the price. He knew from the very moment the idea of a pet asserted itself in his mainframe. But he didn't care. He'd never cared. Now…

At last he made it to Megatron's personal quarters and hesitantly touched his finger to the call screen.

"**That had **_**better**_** be you Thundercracker."** his leader growled, not bothering to hide his irritation.

"**Yes sir."**

"**Enter."**

The door hissed open with a bang revealing the dark interior of Megatron's quarters. Various cannons, monitors, and energy weapons lined the walls. No Decepticon truthfully knew where Megatron recharged. He didn't trust his own soldiers enough to not assassinate him. It was suspected he recharged in a different place every time the need arose to avoid predictability. This planning room was the closest thing to "personal quarters" Thundercracker was aware of. Before him lay the holographic mapping table, casting its light on the darkness of the room. Behind the table glowed Megatron's menacing eyes amid his looming dark figure. Soundwave stood by the table, ever attentive to his leader's whims. Thundercracker cast him a baleful stare but quickly assumed a militant stance.

"**Soundwave, you are dismissed."**

"**As you command."** the monotonic mech complied, exiting the room.

Megatron's gaze slanted back to Thundercracker, his metal face lengthened by a spiteful frown. He leaned forward and held up his hand. Between his fingers he held Lana…surprisingly still alive.

"**WHAT is the meaning of THIS?"** the Decepticon leader stipulated, thrusting Lana toward him.

Thundercracker assumed an even more rigid attitude. He wasn't asking him.

"**I would expect this nonsense from Skywarp, NOT you." **he leaned back, **"Explain to me WHY you defied my rule of NOT bringing humans onto my ship."**

Now he was asking.

"**I…I just wanted a pet, Sir. I never meant to defy your authority."**

Before he could react Megatron lifted his huge arm cannon and fired one shot, grazing the Seeker's shoulder enough to make him flinch.

"**By bringing THIS onto MY ship you HAVE defied my authority you imbecile!"**

Thundercracker tightened his mouth components, **"Forgive me Lord Megatron."**

The tyrant sat back in his chair, rolling Lana introspectively between his fingers, **"You know the penalty for being caught with contraband Thundercracker."**

"**Yes Sir."** the Seeker's tone fell, knowing the inevitable was about to happen.

Megatron kept toying with the human in his hand a moment and then said, **"Soundwave reports he scanned your mainframe and discovered something very interesting."**

Thundercracker wasn't sure what he meant.

"**According to him, this little creature was responsible for detecting the unstable Energon cube in Cargo Bay 3. Is it true?"**

"**Yes. Yes, Sir."** a light of hope pierced through the darkness**, "If she hadn't found the bad Energon, Skywarp and I wouldn't have detected it in time."**

The room grew heavy with a strange silence before Megatron flicked Lana from his hand, sending her skittering across the table. She barely stopped short of the edge. The Decepticon leader narrowed his optics.

"**Then its reward is a temporary reprieve from termination."** he concluded.

"**Sir?"** Thundercracker was dumbfounded.

"**If it discovered the faulty cube then it stands to reason this human saved the Energon supply, meager as it is."** Megatron said with no definitive emotion. **"Impossible to believe a human could be…useful."**

Thundercracker had to keep himself from smiling as he picked Lana up**, "She is very useful, Lord Megatron. I could use her to detect more faulty…"**

"**No."** was the dropped reply.

Thundercracker seemed to visibly jerk under the harsh word.

"**I **_**never**_** said you could keep that thing."** Megatron lowered his voice and stood up. **"By keeping that thing as a pet you weaken our cause. There shall be no weakness in our ranks. Understand Thundercracker, you are a good soldier, the most level-headed of my aerial strike force. I cannot have your judgment and fighting ability falter because you have been softened by emotion."** He took on a thoughtful expression, **"Perhaps when we've finished conquering this planet and have put an end to the Autobots once and for all, you can have a human pet.**" Megatron's expression hardened to steel as he pointed to the door, **"But until that time, you will get it off my ship this instant and I don't want to see anymore humans in your possession."**

"**But Sir, I…"**

The warlord's cannon lifted slightly, **"Thundercracker, my generosity has fine limits—do NOT test them."**

"**Y—Yes Lord Megatron."** was the Seeker's defeated reply.

Megatron sat in his chair and picked up a data pad **"Take that thing back wherever you found it and when you get back report to Starscream for your work regiment. Is that CLEAR?"**

Thundercracker lowered his head, **"Yes Sir."**

The Seeker left his leader's quarters silently and with heavy, slow steps. He absently stoked Lana's back, not looking at her. His Spark chamber weighed so heavily in his chest he thought it would surely snap its supports and drop to the deck plates.

Lana wasn't sure what just happened since the whole altercation was spoken in that strange robotic language the Decepticons used. Though she didn't understand a word, it sounded angry. But whatever the case, she was alive. She was so sure facing the Decepticon leader would be the end of her, but instead she was with Thundercracker again. However, the conversation certainly affected the blue Con. His optics were dim and strangely sad looking—if that were possible on the robotic face. He wasn't looking at her.

"What did he say?" Lana finally asked.

Thundercracker didn't answer her. He wouldn't even look at her as he made his way into a transport tube.

She quirked her head and smacked his fingers, "Hey! What did he say? What's wrong?"

His optics briefly shifted down at her and silently he placed her in his cockpit.

"Hey! Talk to me! What's going on?" the redhead demanded, banging on his glass hood.

"**Not now Lana,"** he finally answered flatly.

Lana huffed indignantly, her curiosity unsatisfied and very frustrated. Thundercracker exited the transport tube and Lana instantly recognized the launching bay just ahead of them.

"You're going flying?"

"**Yeah…we're going flying,"** he replied with no amount of enthusiasm.

Jogging up the ramp, Thundercracker jumped, transformed, and shot out of the launching bay into the dusky sky. Silently the jet Con cruised above the clouds while Lana awkwardly remained quiet as well. She wanted to know what was spoken between him and Megatron. It obviously wasn't good for him to act so distant.

They flew for almost a half hour until the sun was just peeking over the horizon. Thundercracker gently descended, transformed, and landed on the ground. He opened his cockpit and fished Lana out. He stroked her a few times, optics dim.

"All right! What's going on? What did Megatron say?" Lana demanded tersely.

Thundercracker cupped her in both hands and leaned way down. He placed his hands on the ground and slowly parted them, depositing the young woman in the grass.

Then he stood up and flicked his hand, **"Go on."**

"What?" Lana brushed herself off.

"**Go on!"** he repeated more loudly, **"You're free."**

"Free?" Lana turned her head and saw the lights of a city just over the hill. Her eyes widened in disbelief, "You…you're turning me loose?"

"**That's right. Go! You're free now,"** he waved his hand and turned to walk away.

The young woman looked at the lights and then at him in shock, "But…" suddenly she bolted after him, trying to catch his impossibly long strides "WAIT! Where are you going?"

"**Home,"** he succinctly answered.

She ran out in front of him and he stepped over her. Frustrated she tried to catch up with him again but he slammed his great foot down in front of her.

"**GO Lana! You're free. I don't want you anymore!"** he snapped pointing toward the city.

Lana stared up at him. The hurt that flickered in his optics was so apparent.

"But…why?"

His foot lifted and he "gently" shoved her away, sending her flying back on her back. **"DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME? I DON'T WANT YOU ANYMORE! Go back where you came from!"**

Lana sat up and was nearly bowled over by the backwash of Thundercracker's foot thrusters as he launched off the ground beyond the clouds.


	13. Dealing

_**A/N: Was listening to some music the other day and thought Linkin Park's "Leave out All the Rest" fits TC and Lana's "relationship" so well. Give it a listen if you've never heard it before and see what I mean.**_

_**OH and btw I'm making up the city where Lana is from…I'm guessing the Con Base would be off the coast of California somewhere so just assume she's from an "every city". **_

**A Pet Squishy**

**Chapter 13: "Dealing"**

Lana watched the blue and orange flames of Thundercracker's thrusters wink out of sight and the great rumbling of his engines faded into lonely cricket chirps. He was gone. She was free. Slowly she brushed herself off and kept staring at the sky.

Now she knew what had been spoken—or at least she had a really good idea. Thundercracker had been ordered to get rid of her. For what reason she didn't know, but here she was on the outskirts of a city in the early evening, alone. The revelation of her freedom tried to seep into the concrete of her disbelief. Was she truly free or would he come storming back? She waited for several long moments but the sound of her master's engines never returned.

Still shell-shocked, Lana began walking toward the city just a mile or so away. She soon found a road and began following it. Her mind was so jumbled by the whole event. Every now and again she'd glance over her shoulder, expecting to see the towering form shadowing her—nothing but grass and a few trees. Lana walked on down the road until she happened upon a brightly lit convenience store. A family in their SUV was filling up at the gas pump and she could see a clerk reading behind the lonely counter inside.

Phone. Her mind registered the first step of what she should do. She needed to call someone. Her parents perhaps? No…first she needed to know the date. During her captivity she never figured out how long she'd been missing. Was it weeks or months? Or—perish the thought—a year? Had a missing person's report been filed? Was she posted on one of the countless store bulletin boards for missing people?

So many questions screaming for answers.

_Figure out the date and where you are, THEN call._

Lana timidly walked into the convenience store and approached the man reading behind the counter.

"Help you?" he asked without looking up.

"Umm. What city is closest to here?"

He put down his car magazine and gave her a disbelieving stare, "Hucksby."

She was home after all. Her eyes darted around until they found the "If you were born on this date…" cigarette calendar. July 15. Lana leaned heavily against the counter. Five months. Five months she was gone. Had it truly been that long?

"Where's your phone?" she asked quietly.

The clerk pointed to the back and resumed reading. Lana dumbly moved toward it, picked up the phone, and dialed home. It rang twice.

"Hello?" her mom's voice sounded so foreign after so long, but so welcome to her ears.

Lana held back her crying, "Mom…it's me."

…

_The next day on the Nemesis…_

Thundercracker lifted another heavy metal part, bracing his legs against the platform while Hook connected it in place. The moment he had returned to the Nemesis, Starscream immediately set him to work for his contraband punishment. All night and into the next day he'd toiled, bearing heavy loads as the Constructicons refitted the Nemesis's drive core with newly made parts. The engine reconstruction was an ongoing process since the materials needed to reform the new parts as well as the Energon required were scarce and often ill-equipped to deal with the massive ship's specifications. Parts were continually being remade and rebuilt after each energy or resource raid. Often the fragile Earth materials used to reformat the engine were insufficient so trial and error was the only course of action.

Thundercracker got the unenviable job of being the weight bearer. On top of that, slave-driver Scrapper was harassing him verbally to _**"hurry up"**_ and _**"quit being a lazy slagger"**_. But somehow, though his joints were trembling and his energy reserves were quickly dwindling Thundercracker couldn't shake the emptiness he was feeling. His spark chamber just felt hollow. Once he dropped from energy drain he'd be hauled back to his quarters for recharge. But there would be no comfort there—just his berth and an empty cage.

Hook finished the weld and immediately Scrapper was yelling, **"Thundercracker! Get this converter up to the second level now!"**

The blue Seeker felt the shakiness in his metal set in as his energy core threatened to shut off due to lack of fuel. He wasn't sure if he could manage to fly down and up with the heavy chunk of metal and wires.

Scrapper dealt out more orders and like clockwork Hook and Scavenger moved to the second level to await the part. Grimacing, Thundercracker jumped down, igniting his thrusters just as he neared the floor and landed. He staggered.

Scrapper roughly shoved him toward the part, "**Get MOVING flyboy! We don't have all slaggin' day!"**

Thundercracker didn't retort but knew he'd never have the energy to lift and fly the part up to the second level. Scrapper, however, wasn't going to take no for an answer. Weakly he lifted the heavy chunk of metal and activated his thrusters. He got a few feet off the ground before a red light flashed in his vision.

_**Energy level critical. Initiating emergency recharge.**_

His thrusters quit and he fell to the ground, optics darkening with recharge. Scrapper growled, kicking the fallen Seeker ruefully.

"**Scrapper to Starscream your 'friend' burned out."** the Constructicon spat.

"_**Then move him to his quarters,"**_ was Starscream's succinct reply.

"**I don't have time now."** Scrapper snipped and turned off his communicator just as Starscream was about to rant.

He shook his dark head resuming his work, **"Seekers…fanciest built wimps in the Decepticon armada."**

Shortly, Skywarp and Starscream both arrived.

Starscream frowned upon seeing Thundercracker lying where he dropped in the middle of the engine room. His fierce eyes darted around the room until they found Scrapper up in the higher rungs of the engine room.

He only needed to make a motion with his head for Skywarp to assist him in moving Thundercracker over against the wall out of the way. Immediately, Starscream rocketed off the floor and Skywarp followed until they were hovering near the Constructicon leader.

Unleashing his distinct voice Starscream shouted, **"WHAT is the meaning of THIS Scrapper?"**

The Constructicon lifted his head with annoyance, **"What are you whining about **_**now**_** Starscream?"**

"**Do NOT use that insolent tone with ME, crank shaft! Why have you left a member of my trine lying in the middle of a work zone when I ORDERED you to take him to his quarters?"** the second in command darted forward, tipping his head aggressively.

The Constructicon leader gestured passionately to the engine, **"I called YOU to move him. I'm too busy to worry about a defective cog that can't take the workload. This engine isn't going to repair itself. Megatron…"**

"**SILENCE!"** Starscream snarled, **"My trine is only effective if all of my members are fully functional and UNDAMAGED and I will not let some low-ranking, dirt pusher endanger that!"**

Starscream's insults were halting the other Constructicons work efforts as they listened to their leader get reprimanded. Several were dangerously poised, ready for an order from Scrapper. Skywarp noticed it and tensed only inwardly. Getting the Constructicons mad was like playing catch with a live plasma grenade. One wrong move and Devastator would make a grand destructive entrance right on top of their heads.

Scrapper's visor glinted, **"YOU were the one who ordered this particular work regiment. Don't blame me if he can't handle it."**

Starscream jabbed his null ray right in the Constructicon's chest, **"I never said to leave him in the middle of the floor once he dropped imbecile! Use that two bit processor you claim to have!" **The Second in Command pointed down to Thundercracker with a deadly tone, **"Now…**_**finish**_** what you should've done in the first place! Return him to his berth."**

A long tense silence passed until finally Scrapper conceded, **"Long Haul, return Thundercracker to his quarters."**

Starscream lit his null cannon until it heated up then he burned a dark circle into the Constructicon's chest who hissed painfully.

"**A small reminder to you Constructicon to OBEY the orders of your superiors without QUESTION,"** Starscream rasped.

Starscream and Skywarp flew back down to the ground where Skywarp loaded his friend up into the Constructicon's flat bed. Then he was returned to his berth.

…

_Several long hours later…_

Thundercracker came out of his recharge realizing he was back in his quarters. The last thing he remembered was shutting down in the middle of the Nemesis engine room. His systems slowly booted up and he pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked over toward his work station noticing the enclosure he'd made for Lana not so long ago. The blue Seeker got off his berth and approached the four modified Energon cubes. He sat in his work chair, pulled the enclosure closer to him and stared into each compartment. Thundercracker's optics dimmed despondently as he stroked the empty cage, tracing the new little openings he'd cut out only a couple days before. Lana never got to use those little doors.

As he sat the door to his quarters suddenly hissed open to reveal Starscream.

"**Are you functional?"** he asked.

Thundercracker stood up, **"Yeah."**

Starscream casually glanced around stating, **"Good. Megatron has ordered a new raid in the Northern Hemisphere in the next few megacycles. We will depart shortly."**

"**Understood. I'll be ready."** Thundercracker nodded.

The Air Commander's optics fell on the enclosure and then flashed at Thundercracker.

Starscream's voice took on a pragmatic, yet dangerous tone, **"I don't agree with Megatron on most of his decisions, but there's one thing we CAN agree on."**

True to his skill, Starscream fired a lightening quick bolt from his null cannon and in a shower of burning debris the enclosure behind Thundercracker exploded. The blue Seeker jumped to the side, shocked. With a brutal swat, Starscream smacked Thundercracker's face with the side of his null cannon.

The Air Commander frowned with narrow optics, **"Weakness we NOT be tolerated— especially not in **_**MY**_** trine. Fail me on this mission and I assure you you'll be LUCKY to be used as spare parts!"**

Without another word Starscream left and not two seconds after the door closed Skywarp teleported inside. He looked at the mess created by the demolished Energon enclosure and then at TC.

"**Bad cycle?"** he quipped.

"**Shut off, Warp! I don't want to hear it!"** Thundercracker snarled, denting his wall with a vengeful punch.

The black and violet Seeker put up his hands, **"All right. All right. Sorry I asked."**

"**Just go away Warp."** the blue Seeker grumbled, beginning to scoop up the debris on his work table.

Skywarp felt something soft and thin brush his heel thrusters and he looked down. The frayed, half-burned remains of a brightly colored parachute had fixed itself to his heel. He bent down, plucked up the scrap of material and rope, and then he held it out to Thundercracker. The blue Con finally noticed the parachute that had once been Lana's hammock and accepted the scrap.

"**Look, I know you liked that squishy TC, but it's better she's gone. You see that right?"**

Thundercracker kept staring at the parachute, his optics hollow. Skywarp released a hot gust from his shoulder vents and then lightly punched his friend's shoulder.

"**Ah, you'll get over it. In a couple megacycles we'll be flying, blowing stuff up, and getting some more Energon and you'll feel better. Huh?"** he slugged Thundercracker's other shoulder.

Thundercracker programmed a fake smile and nodded, **"Yeah. Yeah…"**

Not fully convinced Skywarp elbowed the blue Seeker's cockpit, **"Aww come on TC, you KNOW you like to sonic boom those buildings! All the glass exploding, the foundations crumbling, other jets spinning out of control, eh? Eh?"**

Though he honestly didn't feel like placating his friend's violent obliviousness, Thundercracker decided to get it over with.

He slugged Skywarp back, **"Yeah! Yeah I do."**

"**Atta boy!"** Skywarp clapped him on the back, **"That energy is as good as ours!"**

"**You know it is!"** Thundercracker returned the enthusiasm.

Skywarp saluted briefly and teleported. Thundercracker's smile disappeared like ice in a skillet once he left. Yeah he liked fuel raids, he liked unleashing his great physical power on their targets, but such things were fleeting. When the raid was over he would return to his quarters…alone. If he didn't return, well, who would care anyway? He sat down again, lightly rubbing the parachute cloth between his fingers.

……

_Three weeks later…_

Lana had never bent the truth so much in her life, but what choice did she have? She couldn't tell her parents or the detectives she'd spent the last five months in the possession of a giant alien robot who kept her as a pet. They'd probably institutionalize her for post-traumatic stress rehabilitation.

Instead she cooked up a simple story. She'd met a handsome stranger at work and on a whim left school to be with him without telling anyone. They lived together for five months and then she decided he wasn't really the one for her so she returned to school. As for the explanation of how the house she'd lived in was completely destroyed she feigned innocence and claimed she knew nothing about such a thing; she would've been with "Terry" at the time.

Though her parents were considerably outraged and hurt by her story they quickly forgave her in lieu of their separation and Lana's profuse apology. They immediately insisted she live with them for awhile before she started a new semester. Lana quickly reapplied to her college for the fall semester, eager to try and get back in the swing of things. She found a nice apartment within her budget, moved in, and was awaiting the following week when classes began.

It was surreal living in her old life again. She still could barely believe she was really out and about doing the things she was doing more than five months ago. Yet, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was amiss, something wasn't feeling quite right in her head.

Lately her dreams were often about her time on the Nemesis. Most were nightmares of almost getting stepped on or vaporized by malicious metallic giants. Yet, a recurring dream was of her sitting in Thundercracker's hand, him stroking her like a tiny kitten. They never said anything in the dream, but when she awoke she could faintly feel the ghostly metal fingers still brushing her skin. It was almost as if somewhere in her subconscious she actually missed Thundercracker.

"_That's ridiculous,"_ her mind would chastise_, "You're just remembering what happened, it doesn't MEAN anything."_

Then her curious mind would ask, _"I wonder how he's doing?"_

"_Oh don't start that! He's a giant robot Lana, he's FINE. In fact he's probably deleted you from his computer brain and is back to stealing energy and blowing up boats."_ her other side cynically surmised.

Her curious side would shrug, _"Maybe. I wonder if he's still lonely though."_

Upon which her mind would reply, _"Just let it go Lana. You're free again, back to your old life. Don't dwell on the past. Besides, you need to start thinking about a job again."_

Lana leaned back into her pillow, the weight of all she needed to do pressing into her brain like so many needles.

…

_Seattle Space Needle…_

Sirens wailed below, people screamed running like ants from a flooded anthill. Thundercracker tuned it all out as white noise as he sat on the flat saucer section of the Space Needle. His landing had sent the entire occupancy of the structure fleeing for their lives. However, he hadn't chosen the tower as a target for destruction; he just wanted a place to sit alone for awhile. Sure the ruckus the humans were making would probably stir up the military or perhaps a few Autobots, but to be honest the Decepticon Seeker didn't give a flying frag.

He stared at the little human specks scurrying below on the street through his night vision. A slow smirk lifted his mouth plates. He'd always thought humans were funny when they ran. His smirk lowered as he rested his chin in his hand.

Real happiness had been in short supply for the blue Seeker lately. He did the raids, he followed orders, and he fought without hesitation. But nothing seemed to be as gratifying anymore. His Spark had lifted one night on a raid when he spotted a redheaded female hiding inside the wreckage of a building. But…it wasn't Lana. Often he wondered how she was surviving. He'd sometimes bring it up to Skywarp, but after his friend stated, _**"He'd rather pull his hard drive out through his optic sockets than hear about that squishy,"**_ Thundercracker decided to keep it to himself.

The Decepticon continued to stare down at the city streets until he sat up straighter with a thought dancing across his mainframe. He stood and quickly launched off of the Space Needle into the sky.

…

Lana stirred in her sleep, awakening from another dream. She groggily stared at her clock glowing next to her and groaned upon seeing the time: _3:32 a.m._ How she hated to wake up in the middle of the night. Brain still foggy with fatigue, Lana snuggled her pillow, trying to force sleep upon herself again. Quite suddenly one of her knick knacks fell over on her dresser. Lana jumped, squinting in the dark of her room. Then, through the slats of her sliding glass door blinds, the street light outside darkened. For a moment Lana felt relief sweep over her; she always hated that orangey yellow glow. A car alarm wailed, honking incessantly which sent Lana's face deeper into the pillow.

She was about to curse whatever idiot had set it off when a loud bang jolted her awake and the car alarm abruptly ceased. In an instant Lana rolled out of bed and jerked the blinds up. For a moment she thought she was still asleep when blue metal filled the window outside her balcony. The redhead unlocked the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the balcony, gripping the metal rail.

Her jaw dropped. She wasn't dreaming. There was Thundercracker, looming in the parking lot, grinding an unfortunate car into the concrete with his foot to silence the alarm.

"What are you doing _here_?!" Lana squeaked intensely.

The huge Con turned around a little too quickly and took out a chunk of roof and siding from the other apartment complex across the way with his wing. Lana winced, partially covering her eyes. Several lights flashed on accompanied by loud screams and shouts. Thundercracker grimaced but was fixated on Lana standing before him. A smile lifted his lip components as he bent down to her relative eye-level.

"**You look healthy,"** he rumbled.

The young woman glanced around, noticing silhouettes of frightened and probably angry apartment tenants in the windows.

"What are you doing here?" she repeated in a heated whisper.

He shrugged his high shoulder vents, **"Visiting."**

"Visiting?" she repeated as she waved her hand to shoo him away, "You'd better go everyone's going to see you!"

The Decepticon glanced around noticing the commotion but he didn't seem that worried, "**All right."**

Lana tried to protest but he plucked her right off the balcony and shot up into the air with a roar of thrusters. Wind whipped Lana's thin night gown as they flew high above the city. He held her tightly but gently, insuring she wouldn't fall.

"What are you DOING?" Lana shouted at him. "You're not capturing me AGAIN are you?"

He shook his head and angled downward toward an open field outside the city. With a grace belying his great size the Seeker landed in the tall grass surrounded by trees. Gradually he began holding his former pet in cupped hands.

Lana stood up in his hands gesturing passionately, "All right what do you want from me NOW? Haven't you put me through enough stress?"

Thundercracker stroked her back, **"I just wanted to visit and make sure you were surviving."**

"Yes, I'm fine," she snapped pointing angrily in the relative direction of her home, "Now _please_ take me back to my apartment and leave me alone so I can get some sleep!"

Lana's blue eyes were icy as she stared at him, but then Thundercracker frowned sadly, ruby optics dimming. He looked strangely like a puppy that had just been swatted with a newspaper. The ice melted from Lana's gaze as the Con shifted his feet.

"**All right,"** he complied in the softest voice his great voice could muster.

An uncomfortable swarm of guilt-driven moths fluttered up Lana's chest, drying her throat. She'd pretty much slammed the proverbial door in his face.

She put a defeated hand to her forehead, "WAIT."

The Decepticon was crouched, ready to take off.

"I'm sorry. We…we can talk awhile if you want," the young woman consented, patting the black fingers surrounding her body.

Thundercracker immediately relaxed, optics brightening as he sat down in the grassy field.

Lana, feeling a little more charitable in mood, started, "So, how have you been?"

The Decepticon smirked, **"Good…good."**

"Really?" her brow arched suspiciously.

His smirk fizzled, **"No…not really."**

"I'm sorry," she paused, "I take it you were ordered to get rid of me?"

He nodded.

"And…you didn't really want to right?" she surmised.

He nodded again.

She frowned, "Did you get in trouble?"

Thundercracker looked at her with a dry laugh, **"Worked me until I ran out of energy. But it could've been worse."**

"Won't you get in trouble for this?" Lana glanced around warily.

Thundercracker shook his head with a shrug, "**Megatron said I couldn't keep you, he never said anything about not visiting. Besides…he doesn't know."**

"Sneaky."

He looked at her as if she had somehow changed, **"Are you getting formatted to be a nurse?"**

She nodded, "I start my classes in four days."

"**Are you able to afford it?"** he inquired.

"I'll manage."

"**I'll bet **_**you **_**are happier now."** he guessed, knowing all too well her aversion to being his pet.

Lana looked down at his hand, "Well…to tell the truth, I think I actually missed you."

"**You don't have to lie,"** he hissed in his vents, **"I know you don't really like me. You're just afraid I'll be angry if you don't say that."**

She gave him an offended frown, "No really! I'm not lying. I don't know why, but I missed seeing you everyday."

"**You do?"** he sounded genuinely surprised.

Lana let herself smile as she patted his fingers, "Yeah. You're not really such a bad guy."

He returned her smile, patting her head.

"**I miss having you as a pet too,"** he admitted.

"Now THAT I don't miss," she said in all honestly.

The big blue Con looked at her intently.

"Listen, Thundercracker. I'm NOT your pet anymore."

He lowered his head, **"I know."**

She continued, "BUT…I would like to be your _friend_."

"**Friend?"**

"Yes."

The Decepticon seemed to consider the implications of the word. To admit "friendship" rather than "ownership" with Lana would mean an equalization of humans with Decepticons, something totally against his faction's credo. No one would have to know and besides that, his Spark felt so much better since he saw Lana. He dared to say he felt, happy. Thundercracker didn't want to lose such a good feeling. Decepticon credo or not, he refused to remain miserable.

"**I…I would like that,"** he managed to admit.

Lana smiled, "Me too."

Thundercracker stroked her back habitually, but this time Lana truly didn't care.

The blue Con stood up, **"Well, I probably should return you and head back to the base."**

"Will you visit me again?"

"**You want me to visit again?"** he seemed surprised.

The young woman nodded, "Yeah. That's what friends do," she held up a hand, "Just give me a little _warning_ next time. You kinda made a mess of things back there."

Thundercracker glanced around at the field, **"Well…why don't we meet here?"**

"Yeah. Yeah I can do that." She agreed.

"**But…I can't visit too often. Might look suspicious." **

Lana thought a moment, "Well…how about we meet the first day of every month at say…midnight?"

Instantaneously, Thundercracker logged that into his internal "clock", **"Agreed."**

And thus the pact was made.

**End**

_**A/N:**_ _**Merry Christmas everyone! Though I have said END on this I will write a short little Epilogue to clenture this whole story up. This has certainly been fun to write and I deeply appreciate all the support ya'll have given me! Without you guys and your reviews and support I doubt I would write these as passionately as I do.**_

_**So…what's next you might ask? Well TOMORROW Tinman is due to be aired on audiofanfic . com so I'm literally a kid at Christmastime. I just can't wait!**_

_**As for writing I'm thinking of writing another "Energon Goggles" story involving Rumble and Frenzy. Then I've got one more chapter of "Boys Meet my Truck" and I've still got "Baby Con" to play with. But as for a larger project I'm considering an erotic fiction involving the Decepticons and a Spark devouring femme known as the Succubot. Not sure yet.**_

_**In any case I'm keeping up the writing!**_


	14. Epilogue

_**A/N: Ok…just so you guys don't throw cartons of old eggnog and hardened fruit cakes at me…Tinman's air date on audiofanfic . com has been set back to NEW YEARS DAY! So just so ya'll know and aren't getting ulcers like me checking the site every ten minutes for an update, that's the latest scoop.**_

**A Pet Squishy **

"**Epilogue"**

_A month later…_

Lana awoke at about 8:00 a.m. to get ready to attend her classes. Trudging into the kitchen with slippered feet she switched on the tiny TV on the counter and poured herself a bowl of cheerios. As she was rummaging in the fridge for milk the news headlines caught her attention for once.

"…_these sightings have been recorded all over the world leaving many to wonder are we under attack?"_ a woman's clear voice inquired.

Lana held the milk carton and slowly shut the fridge, staring at the blurry recordings the reporter spoke of. Most were merely glimpses of what appeared to be humanoid figures towering overhead and flashes of explosions following. The young woman set down her milk and leaned in closer, cranking the volume.

The camera cut to an image of a Latina reporter, dark hair windswept, with trees and blue sky behind her, _"But just this morning we've received reports of these giant robot sightings much closer to home."_

The scene switched to an image of an old man in a checkered shirt and a Cargill cap, gesturing and pointing while talking, _"Mr. Mark Quillen, a local farmer for Shady Hills Orchard, allegedly spotted one of these giant robots invading his fields."_

Lana blinked, forgetting her breakfast.

"_I know it sounds crazy but early this morning I saw what looked like a giant, red-eyed, robot stealing my peaches!"_ he explained in a disbelieving voice. _"It was taller than my barn and it had big plane wings on its back. Son of [beep] tore off the roof of my storage shed and stole just one box!"_ he gestured, wiping his brow underneath the brim of his cap. _"I just can't figure what a robot would want with a box of peaches."_

Lana covered her eyes with her palm, knowing the exact answer to the beleaguered farmer's question.

…

_Almost midnight…_

Lana had spent the days earlier in the week trying to memorize the exact route she needed to take to get to the special field. It wasn't exactly easy to find by vehicle, but she found a roadside to park within walking distance. Waving a flashlight out in front of her, Lana snuck through the wooded area until she found the field. It was empty. She checked her watch just to be sure.

11:45.

_Well, she was early. _

She didn't have to wait long. In no time she heard the low rumbling of a jet engine in the distance. Then the burning thrusters flashed overhead, signaling the Decepticon's arrival. His huge form gradually lowered down to earth, whipping the grass wildly with the thruster backwash. Thundercracker landed, shaking the ground beneath his feet. Lana waved at him casually.

"Been waiting."

"**You're early, by twelve earth minutes,"** he mentioned.

Lana grinned and then Thundercracker opened a compartment on his chest, fishing out a box.

"**Brought ya something."**

The young woman placed a hand on her hip, "_Yes_, I know."

He sat down, looking perturbed, **"Huh?"**

"I SAW you on the news Thundercracker," she gestured in front of her.

Shrugging he held out the box of peaches in his hand, **"The other ones spoiled."**

"Why'd you tear off that farmer's roof and steal his peaches?" Lana gave him a chiding stare.

"**How else could I get them?" **He smirked, **"Besides I didn't hurt anyone and** **no one can stop me anyway."**

Lana shook her head disapprovingly, "Well…please don't do it again. It's not right."

His red optics flashed as he continued to smirk, as if he was daring her to try and stop him. Not that she could…or anyone could for that matter. If a giant robot wanted something he was going to GET it.

Grudgingly Lana accepted the box and placed it in the grass for the moment. Thundercracker cocked his head, staring at the other object in the grass.

"**What did you bring there?"** he asked.

Lana looked down and picked up the portable CD player she'd brought along. "Well, when I figured out you were bringing me something I felt I needed to give you something too."

"**That?"**

She smiled, "No. Awhile back you wanted to see me dance…so here you go."

Pushing _play_ Lana started her music, a light rock ballad with an upbeat rhythm. She arched her body slowly, taking on all the grace her ballet classes had endowed her with. Her hands lifted up as she swayed her hips, feet delicately bending the grass as she rose up on one leg. Kicking upward she fell into splits, rolled, and flipped back onto her feet. The young woman leaped in the grass, twirling and swaying her whole body sensuously with the beat.

Thundercracker was mesmerized by the fluid organic movements of his former pet. Normally he viewed all earthbound creatures as lumbering or unrefined in their movements. Lana had no wings, yet she flew across the ground daring to challenge her flightlessness with this beautiful thing known as 'dance'. Only in the air could _he_ achieve such grace, but she wove her earth-bound movements into a silky blanket of kinesthetic elegance. For minutes Lana danced until at last the song concluded, leaving her panting for breath in a stylish bowed stoop.

She stood up, sweaty, "There. _[Pant]_ Now you can't say _[Pant]_ I never danced for you."

**END**

_**A/N: Just thought I'd add that last little fun tidbit for you guys. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and thank you ALL for such awesome support!**_


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